The US Senate is Now Going After Ticket-Buying Bots
As part of a wave of populist fervour racing around the planet, the US Senate is now suddenly concerned about ticket-buying bots snapping up thousands of concert tickets before us poor meatbags get a chance to click “enter.” From Billboard:
Senators passed legislation by voice vote Wednesday that would make using the software an “unfair and deceptive practice” under the Federal Trade Commission Act and allow the FTC to pursue those cases. The House passed similar legislation in September, but the bills are not identical so the Senate legislation now moves to the House.
Even Ticketmaster and StubHub(!!!) seem to be on the same page. The Hollywood Reporter reports:
During a recent U.S. Senate Subcommittee hearing on the Better Online Ticket Sales Act, bitter industry rivals Ticketmaster and StubHub came together in rare unity to praise the bill. The BOTS Act, expected to pass before Christmas, would make it illegal to use software to buy mass quantities of tickets online. Ticket “bots” are why good seats often are hard to find and why hot acts such as Hamilton and Adele increasingly are trying to pre-empt the secondary market by offering high-priced tickets of their own.
New York State has also made bots illegal, complete with threats of jail terms, fines and points against drivers’ licenses.
Love it. Keep it coming.