Ticketnews.com reports that former Ticketmaster customers who had signed onto a class-action lawsuit against Ticketmaster for charging excessive processing and shipping fees will have to wait a little while longer to receive their compensation, after Los Angeles Superior Court judge Kenneth Freeman rejected a proposed settlement agreement between Ticketmaster and the class-action plaintiffs' attorneys, which included a $16.5 million payment to the plaintiff’s lawyers. Judge Freeman said that the settlement of $1.50 or $5 coupons to class action members "represents a windfall for Ticketmaster and does not represent 'real value' for class members" adding that he was concerned that a failure to reach some 20%  of the estimated 50.7 million class members by email was a "significant concern".

Festival fun helps Highland cops balance books

This is the headline from the Ross-shire journal reporting that Scottish music festivals in the Highlands have helped the Northern Constabulary save £2 million in the last year. Policing huge outdoor events like this weekend’s RockNess event near Inverness has helped keep the force in the black and save £2 million out a revenue budget of £51.5m for 2011/12 which was underspent. The paper says "Scores of officers are needed to police the thousands of revellers who attend several large music festivals and one-off concerts which are annually held in the region including the three-day RockNess event, Tartan Heart at Belladrum near Beauly and Loopallu in Ullapool" and they are, of course, charged for.  Andy Cowie, the force’s deputy chief constable, did not know how much cash had been raised from the policing of festivals but said "The public purse should not be subsiding private enterprise".

                                                                                                       

http://www.ross-shirejournal.co.uk/News/Festival-fun-helps-Highland-cops-balance-books.htm