President Obama Signs New Act Making Online Ticketing Bots Illegal
The legislation outlawing the use of online ticket bots, which are employed to buy up many tickets within minutes or seconds of the on-sale time, has now become nationwide, as President Obama has signed the new Better Online Ticket Sales (BOTS) Act of 2016. The signing comes one week after Congress passed the legislation and is now law with President Obama’s signature.
According to the White House, the act, which is numbered S. 3183, “prohibits the circumvention of control measures used by Internet ticket sellers to ensure equitable consumer access to tickets for certain events.” As By the Wavs (via JamBase) notes, “With this law, it makes the person(s) and those who know how the tickets were purchased liable.”
The nationwide law follows a recent statewide law signed into practice by New York Governor Andrew Cuomo late last month. Cuomo called the use of ticket bots “predatory.”