A $500 million class action lawsuit has been launched against Ticketmaster Entertainment, Inc., Ticketmaster Canada Ltd., TNow Entertainment Group, Inc. and Premium Inventory, Inc.in Ontario.

The lawsuit claims that Ticketmaster.com conspired with Ticketsnow.com, owned by Ticketmaster, to sell popular concert tickets at an inflated price.

According to the lawsuit, people are being diverted to the Ticketsnow website which sells tickets at a much higher price than Ticketmaster whenever they search for popular shows. Customers complained that popular tickets would sell out quickly at Ticketmaster.com only to be available at Ticketsnow.com later at sometimes double the price.

One person purchased two tickets for $533.65 that could have only cost him $$133.00 if the tickets were available at Ticketmaster.com

The suit says the practice of selling tickets for amounts that exceed their face prices contravenes Ontario’s anti-scalping legislation.

The class action suit was launched on behalf of all customers who bought tickets for an Ontario show through Ticketsnow.com.