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PATERSON— U.S. Rep. Bill Pascrell, Jr. (D-NJ-08) responded to an e-mail in which Ticketmaster today informed TicketsNow broker clients that it is being compelled by investigators to share their contact information, contracts, and sales activity information for two Bruce Springsteen shows scheduled at the IZOD Center in May.
“I am pleased that investigators are taking a closer look into the questionable partnership between Ticketmaster and TicketsNow,” stated Pascrell. “Given Ticketmaster’s mishandling of ticket sales for the Springsteen shows and many others, it is about time that the authorities take a closer look at their business relationship with TicketsNow. Investigating sales records is the only way to ensure the public had fair access to tickets that were instantaneously available from secondary broker like TicketsNow.”
On February 3, 2009 Pascrell called for the Justice Department and Federal Trade Commission to investigate a potential conflict of interest between Ticketmaster and its partner company TicketsNow, following the questionable handling of ticket sales for the Bruce Springsteen tour that became available on Monday February 2.
Text of the email sent out by Ticketmaster to TicketsNow broker clients is below:
As you are aware, recent events have resulted in a heightened level of interest in Ticketmaster’s and TicketsNow’s businesses. One by-product of this heightened interest is that we have received a number of subpoenas and demands for sworn information about TicketsNow and its broker clients. These include formal requests for information and/or subpoenas from, among others, the United States Department of Justice, the New Jersey Attorney General’s office, the Federal Trade Commission and the Canadian Competition Bureau.
The purpose of this letter is to inform you that we are now required to hand over certain information about TicketsNow's broker clients and their sales activities. In particular, we are required to identify: (i) information regarding any seller of tickets on TicketsNow for the May 21 and May 23, 2009 Bruce Springsteen concerts at the IZOD Center in New Jersey; (ii) the names and contact information of all ticket brokers with whom TicketsNow does business; and (iii) copies of TicketsNow broker contracts.
We are taking steps to protect the confidentiality of these materials once produced but feel we are required to provide these materials in response to lawful demands. Therefore, please be advised that we will respond to these subpoenas and demands for information one week from today.
We appreciate your understanding in this matter.
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