Unlike rival Live Nation, which last week threw cold water on investors' hopes for the rest of 2010, ticket marketplace giant StubHub is projecting revenue growth for 2010, despite a drop in ticket prices.

The company, bought by online auctions giant eBay in 2007 for more than $300 million, expects to grow revenues by 20 percent in 2010, the same amount of increase as in 2009, according to StubHub President Chris Tsakalakis.

In a separate but similar action to its lawsuit against eBay subsidiary StubHub, the City of Chicago has again found itself on the wrong end of a legal case involving the collection of its amusement tax on ticket sales.

U.S. District Court Judge Blanche M. Manning last week dismissed a lawsuit against eBay by the city that claimed the auction Web site is a "reseller's agent," which would have made the site liable for collecting the 9 percent (5 percent for many cultural events) amusement tax on resold tickets.

eBay's financial results for the second quarter which ended June 30, 2009 show the online auctions giant's net income fell 29 percent from last year as its Marketplaces unit, which includes StubHub, suffered from the impact of a strong dollar and the tenuous macroeconomic climate.

Net income fell to $327 million compared to $460 million in the first quarter while second quarter revenue fell to $2.10 billion, a decrease of $97.7 million from last year. eBay's commitment to fast growing, low margin business saw GAAP operating margins decrease to 19.6 percent from last year's 24.8 percent.

The pop-punk heroes in No Doubt have taken a strong stance against ticket scalping for the band's current tour. Except when it suits them just fine.

Through the Web site eBay, No Doubt is auctioning off VIP ticket packages to 16 of its upcoming shows, of which 60 percent of the proceeds from each sale will benefit the Orange County Chapter of ALS. The band also plans to hold additional auctions for more shows in the coming weeks, and the other charities that will benefit include Doctors Without Borders and charity: water.

EBay, and its subsidiary StubHub, this week announced that it was joining TicketNetwork in not allowing Inaugural tickets to be resold on any of its websites. The two companies are the first major ticket exchanges to make the move.

Soon after Barack Obama was elected the nation's 44th President, interest in Inauguration tickets skyrocketed, but government officials quickly sought to end the speculative reselling of tickets that are being distributed free by Congressional members to their constituents.