U.S. Rep. Marsha Blackburn (R-TN) joined three other Tennessee legislators on Wednesday in introducing groundbreaking legislation to improve the process and fairness of purchasing tickets to entertainment and sports events online.
The Better Online Ticket Sales (BOTS) Act, co-sponsored by Reps. Steve Cohen (D), Scott DesJarlais (R) and Jim Cooper (D), would make the use of computer hacking software (also known as BOTS) to get around security measures on ticket websites a federal crime.
“I am pleased to be working on a bipartisan basis with the Tennessee delegation on this important legislation,” Blackburn said. “Scalpers have been taking advantage of (BOTS) to circumvent restrictions put in place by online ticketing agents for years. They purchase tickets in mass quantities and sell them at a considerably marked up rate, which hurts fans of live entertainment who get priced out of the market.”
The legislation also would open the door for parties who are financially damaged by the use of BOTS to sue in federal court to recover lost funds.
“The live entertainment industry goes to great lengths to build relationships with its fans and ensure that they will (have) access to shows,” Blackburn said. “The BOTS Act will allow (Federal Trade Commission) enforcement, criminal sanctions and a private right of action to be brought against online scalpers. It is time to level the online ticket playing field for fans of live entertainment.”
The bill is being supported by several organizations related to the entertainment industry, including The Recording Academy, Live Nation Entertainment, and the Tennessee Sports and Entertainment Industry Coalition.
“With many fans already finding ticket prices for their favorite artists and events too high, it is disappointing that scalpers would seek to extract even more money out of consumers by using unfair ticket-purchasing and reselling practices,” Cohen added. “The BOTS Act would help end these anti-consumer tactics and clarify that using computer programs to snap up all available tickets to resell at a much higher price is, in fact, illegal under the Federal Trade Commission Act.”