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Ticketmaster faces expanded probe by Competition Bureau

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The federal Competition Bureau is expanding its investigation into Ticketmaster to include the company’s secret scalping program revealed last week in a Toronto Star/CBC undercover investigation — amid new calls for accountability from politicians, music and sports fans across the continent.

Meanwhile, a Toronto law firm has launched a $250-million class action suit against Ticketmaster Canada, alleging the company’s practices engaged in “false or misleading misrepresentations” that violate the Competition Act.

A spokesperson for Navdeep Bains, minister of innovation, science and economic development, confirmed the investigation Wednesday after the minister called the bureau with concerns about the Star/CBC revelations.

“I did reach out to the Competition Bureau to really express my concerns I’ve heard from Canadians,” said Bains in an interview. “We want to see that consumers are treated with respect and with transparency.”

In a statement Wednesday, Competition Bureau spokesperson Marie-France Faucher said, “We are looking into the matter, and examining whether this type of conduct could fall within the Competition Act.”

The company has invested millions of dollars creating an online software tool called TradeDesk, designed to allow industrial-scale scalpers to manage their vast inventories of tickets for resale. While scalpers profit from markups, Ticketmaster also stands to gain additional commission fees for those resold seats.

“I have a gentleman who’s got over 200 Ticketmaster.com accounts,” a Ticketmaster sales executive told undercover reporters from the Star and CBC posing as scalpers at a recent convention in Las Vegas. “We don’t spend any time looking at your Ticketmaster.com account. I don’t care what you buy. It doesn’t matter to me.”

That mutually beneficial economic relationship appears to undermine a company policy limiting ticket purchases for each customer in the interests of giving fans a fair shot at seats for sporting events and concerts, and discouraging “unfair ticket buying practices.”

That limit, posted when tickets go on sale, is typically six or eight seats per buyer.

The Star/CBC investigation triggered the class action suit from Toronto-based Sotos Class Actions — the second class action firm in the country to pursue damages on behalf of Ticketmaster customers. On Sunday, the Star reported Regina-based Merchant Law Group LLP, which already has a class action filed against Ticketmaster alleging inflated ticket prices, plans to expand that claim to include revelations contained in the Star/CBC investigation.

“Ticketmaster effectively operates as an oligopoly over the live entertainment industry,” said Sotos lead counsel Louis Sokolov in an interview Wednesday. “These practices, if they’re true, cause great harm to consumers and many millions of dollars in damages.”

Richard Powers, associate professor at the University of Toronto’s Rotman School of Management, said Ticketmaster is now exposed to a potentially significant regulatory response from governments.

“The Competition Bureau or the government is likely to sanction and/or create more laws around the issues. And that has the potential of ending their monopolistic position in event ticketing. Something is going to happen,” Powers said.

The Star/CBC revelations sparked outraged responses across Canada before spreading into the U.S. media. On Friday, two senior U.S. senators — Jerry Moran and Richard Blumenthal — wrote a public letter to Ticketmaster’s parent company, Live Nation, including a list of questions for which they want answers by 5 p.m. on Oct. 5.

“Given our ongoing interest in protecting consumers from unfair and deceptive practices, we seek clarification on the use of (the TradeDesk) program,” the letter reads.

While Ticketmaster officials have repeatedly declined interviews with the Star and CBC over the past six months, the company’s president broke his silence this week in an interview with Billboard magazine in which he acknowledged shortcomings in the company’s oversight of its TradeDesk clients.

“There’s clearly some things that we’re not doing well enough,” said Jared Smith. “We’ll learn from it and we’ll make some changes.”

Bains said the new revelations aimed at Ticketmaster require close scrutiny.

“From a consumer point of view, you want to make sure there’s a level playing field,” he said. “From a consumer perspective, that there is transparency and fairness, that consumers understand the arrangements that they’re getting into and that they’re getting the best possible outcome in a very fair system. That’s what we want to see. We want fair competition and transparency.”

He stopped short of promising any legislative response to the concerns, saying the government will await the Competition Bureau’s findings.

“We want to see how this unfolds in the coming weeks and months …We will make our determination accordingly.”

With files from Alex Boutilier

Robert Cribb is a Toronto-based investigative reporter. Follow him on Twitter: @thecribby

Marco Chown Oved is a Toronto-based investigative reporter. Follow him on Twitter: @marcooved

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Anglais

Nostalgia and much more with Starburst XXXtreme

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Get a taste of adventure with Starburst XXXtreme based on the legendary NetEnt Game. The nostalgic themes are sure to capture fans of the classic version as they get treated to higher intensity, better visuals, and features. The most significant element of the game is its volatility. Patience will not be an essential virtue considering the insane gameplay, and there is a lot of win potential involved. It retains the original makeup of the previous game while adding a healthy dose of adrenaline. 

Starburst Visuals and Symbols

The game is definitely more conspicuous than before. The setting happens over a 5-reel, 3-row game grid with nine fixed win lines, which function if a succession from the left to the right reel is present. Only those players that that attain the highest win per bet line are paid. From a visual standpoint, the Starburst XXXtreme slots illustrates lightning effects behind the reels, which is not surprising as it is inherited from the original version. Available themes include Classic, Jewels, and Space. The game is also available in both desktop and mobile versions, which is advantageous for players considering the global pandemic. According to Techguide, American gamers are increasingly having more engaging gaming experiences to socialize to fill the gap of in-person interaction. Starburst XXXtreme allows them to fill the social void at a time when there is so much time to be had indoors. 

Starburst XXXTreme Features

Players get to alternate on three features which are Starburst Wilds, XXXtreme Spins, and Random Wilds. The first appears on reels 2,3, or 4. When these land, they expand to cover all positions while also calculating the wins. They are also locked for a respin. If a new one hits, it also becomes locked while awarding another respin. Starburst XXXtreme offers a choice between two scenarios for a higher stake. In one scenario with a ten times stake, the Starburst Wild is set on random on reels 2,3, or 4, and a multiplier starts the respin. The second scenario, which has a 95 times stake, starts with two guaranteed starburst wilds on reels 2,3, or 4. it also plays out using respin game sequence and features. The game also increases the potential with the Random Wilds feature to add Starburst Wilds to a vacant reel at the end of a spin. Every Starburst Wild gives a random multiplier with potential wins of x2, x3, x5, x10, x25, x50, x100, or even x150.

The new feature is sure to be a big hit with the gaming market as online gambling has shown significant growth during the lockdown. AdAge indicates the current casino customer base is an estimated one in five Americans, so Starburst XXXtreme’s additional features will achieve considerable popularity. 

What We Think About The Game

The gambling market has continued to diversify post-pandemic, so it is one of the most opportune times to release an online casino-based game. Thankfully Starburst XXXtreme features eye-catching visuals, including the jewels and space themes. These attract audience participation and make the gameplay inviting. The game also has a nostalgic edge. The previous NetEnt iteration featured similar visuals and gameplay, so the audience has some familiarity with it. The producers have revamped this version by tweaking the features to improve the volatility and engagement. 

That is characterized by the potential win cap of 200,000 times the bet. Starburst XXXtreme does not just give betting alternatives for players that want to go big. The increase of multipliers also provides a great experience. If the respins in the previous version were great, knowing that multipliers can go hundreds of times overtakes the game to a new level. 

Players should get excited about this offering. All of the features can be triggered within a single spin. Whether one plays the standard game or takes the XXXtreme spin route, it is possible to activate all of the features. Of course, the potential 200,000 times potential is a huge carrot. However, the bet size is probably going to be restricted and vary depending on the casino. It is also worth pointing out that a malfunction during the gameplay will void all of the payouts and progress. Overall, the game itself has been designed to provide a capped win of 200,000 times the original bet. 

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Anglais

‘We’re back’: Montreal festival promoters happy to return but looking to next year

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In downtown Montreal, it’s festival season.

In the city’s entertainment district, a musical act was conducting a sound check on stage Friday evening — the second day of the French-language version of the renowned Just For Laughs comedy festival. Tickets for many of the festival’s free outdoor shows — limited by COVID-19 regulations — were sold out.

Two blocks away, more than 100 people were watching an acoustic performance by the Isaac Neto Trio — part of the last weekend of the Festival International Nuits d’Afrique, a celebration of music from the African continent and the African diaspora.

With COVID-19 restrictions continuing to limit capacity, festival organizers say they’re glad to be back but looking forward to next year when they hope border restrictions and capacity limits won’t affect their plans.

Charles Décarie, Just For Laughs’ CEO and president, said this is a “transition year.”

“Even though we have major constraints from the public health group in Montreal, we’ve managed to design a festival that can navigate through those constraints,” Décarie said.

The French-language Juste pour rire festival began on July 15 and is followed by the English-language festival until July 31.

When planning began in February and March, Décarie said, organizers came up with a variety of scenarios for different crowd sizes, ranging from no spectators to 50 per cent of usual capacity.

“You’ve got to build scenarios,” he said. “You do have to plan a little bit more than usual because you have to have alternatives.”

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MELS new major movie studio to be built in Montreal

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MONTREAL — MELS Studios will build a new film studio in Montreal, filling some of the gap in supply to meet the demand of Hollywood productions.

MELS president Martin Carrier said on Friday that MELS 4 studio construction will begin « as soon as possible », either in the fall or winter of next year. The studio could host productions as early as spring 2023.

The total investment for the project is $76 million, with the Quebec government contributing a $25 million loan. The project will create 110 jobs, according to the company.

The TVA Group subsidiary’s project will enable it to stand out « even more » internationally, according to Quebecor president and CEO Pierre Karl Péladeau. In the past, MELS Studios has hosted several major productions, including chapters of the X-Men franchise. The next Transformers movie is shooting this summer in Montreal.

Péladeau insisted that local cultural productions would also benefit from the new facility, adding that the studio ensures foreign revenues and to showcase talent and maintain an industry of Quebec producers.

STUDIO SHORTAGE

The film industry is cramped in Montreal.

According to a report published last May by the Bureau du cinéma et de la télévision du Québec (BCTQ), there is a shortage of nearly 400,000 square feet of studio space.

With the addition of MELS 4, which will be 160,000 square feet, the company is filling part of the gap.

Carrier admitted that he has had to turn down contracts because of the lack of space, representing missed opportunities of « tens of millions of dollars, not only for MELS, but also for the Quebec economy. »

« Montreal’s expertise is in high demand, » said Montreal Mayor Valérie Plante, who was present at the announcement.

She said she received great testimonials from « Netflix, Disney, HBO and company » during an economic mission to Los Angeles in 2019.

« What stands out is that they love Montreal because of its expertise, knowledge and beauty. We need more space, like MELS 4, » she said.

There is still not enough capacity in Quebec, acknowledged Minister of Finance, the Economy and Innovation Eric Girard.

« It is certain that the government is concerned about fairness and balance, so if other requests come in, we will study them with the same seriousness as we have studied this one, » he said.

Grandé Studios is the second-largest player in the industry. Last May, the company said it had expansion plans that should begin in 2022. Investissement Québec and Bell are minority shareholders in the company.

For its part, MELS will have 400,000 square feet of production space once MELS 4 is completed. The company employs 450 people in Quebec and offers a range of services including studio and equipment rentals, image and sound postproduction, visual effects and a virtual production platform.

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