Canadian Heritage committee  I'll go first. The reality is that this marketplace has existed for decades. This is not something that was proliferated at that time. We have seen two categories of resellers out there, and again these have existed since the beginning of the concert industry. You have the profe

Canadian Heritage committee  As I said before, a lot of the technology is advancing now as people are getting further along. Biometrics is a great example. The technology exists in some places now for you to walk through a gate, and computers will be able to identify you as an individual, just through camera

Canadian Heritage committee  Sure. I just cite that as one example of many. RFID Solutions technology on mobile phones is a great one. That technology is already literally at our fingertips. There are a number of things that could be advanced, but there is a bit of a lag on adoption, and people need to have

Canadian Heritage committee  If you don't mind my adding to that, in terms of a lot of those pre-sale programs, fan club activities and so on, some have certain requirements to participate. Some do not. Some are simply a matter of liking something on Facebook, and you'll automatically get a code for the pre-

Canadian Heritage committee  Absolutely. There's so much misinformation surrounding this subject matter. I can't remember whether it was the province or the federal government that ran a consumer feedback poll on the ticketing question and saw record numbers of responses. However, as I hope was demonstrate

Canadian Heritage committee  Perhaps I could offer some thoughts. One of the recommendations I brought forward, which echos what my peer here had to say, is investment in technology. As I said, this is a global problem. It's a problem that's trying to be addressed by the private sector and governments aroun

Canadian Heritage committee  I could see it very easily as a public-private partnership. The problem is so grand that... The larger companies—and I'm sure the representatives from Ticketmaster may have mentioned this—make a considerable investment in technologies to combat this issue. Then there are companie

Canadian Heritage committee  I'm not a lawyer, so I wouldn't be able to comment on it.

Canadian Heritage committee  I think it's deceptive, certainly.

Canadian Heritage committee  I certainly can't speak to the tax practices of some of those companies. I know some are multinational, with offices here. Some are based externally. I would assume that companies like Ticketmaster are paying their taxes appropriately in Canada.

Canadian Heritage committee  Where you start to see a lot of the erosion of that tax base and a lot of activity moving elsewhere are at the smaller brokerages and the companies that are in.... You'll find them in Rochester, or in the Czech Republic or in Brazil. They're all over the world. They're everywhere

Canadian Heritage committee  I can respond. It's a common problem. We see it all the time. The jurisdictional piece is a very serious one. In addition to the funds not going to the creator and not going to those who are taking the financial risk, I'll note that when the money does leave the jurisdiction, i

Canadian Heritage committee  My understanding is it's in the billions of dollars globally. I don't think we have completed the study to identify a number for Canada, but we'd be happy to research that. It's been researched internationally, so those numbers are available. I just don't have them.

Canadian Heritage committee  Sure. For starters, let me say that it's a very small percentage of the activity, certainly in the concert world, where that happens. It does happen, but it's almost always at the direction of the artist—as part of your question there. Just about everything we do, especially fro

Canadian Heritage committee  Yes. In the music space, I believe a lot should be on the artist. The reality is that in a great many cases they are entirely responsible for dictating the ticket prices. Usually there's a degree of collaboration with those who are promoting the concert and respect for their int