Senator Chuck Schumer says he's introducing a bill to the Senate to make the use of online ticket-buying bots a federal crime.
In this context, the term bots refers to software used by individuals or companies to buy large quantities of tickets online, which are then sold on other websites for more money.
Most recently, Rochester residents and Bruce Springsteen fans experienced the consequences of this system when tickets to see the Boss at Blue Cross Arena were listed for as much as $5,000.
"We got a whole bunch of calls to our office from Springsteen fans who were outraged," Schumer said in a press conference at the arena.
The proposed bill, called the Better On-line Ticket Sales Act, or BOTS Acts, has come before Congress before and was sent to committee in March of 2015. Schumer says now they have more wide-spread support from the entire industry because the legislation does not penalize the platforms used to sell these tickets, like StubHub.
"This has been drafted so it goes after the bots, not the secondary sellers."
The bill will enable federal authorities to track down anyone using bots and issue fines of $16,000 per ticket per day. Schumer says the Federal Trade Commission and the US Justice Department will be responsible for tracking down and penalizing violators, which he says can be traced by following the money.
"Credit card companies cooperate with the FTC to find them."
Schumer isn't the only New York official taking notice of high online ticket sale prices. State Attorney General Eric Schneiderman began an investigation into speculative ticket sales after Springsteen tickets hit secondary seller sites before they had even been released to the public.
Schneiderman released a report on the many obstructions to obtaining online tickets in January.
"Ticketing is a fixed game," said the Attorney General.
Using these bots to buy tickets is already illegal in New York, and websites like TicketMaster attempt to protect against them by including CAPTCHA and other human-verification steps in the buying process, but these efforts are still circumvented.
A spokesperson from the Attorney General's office says his investigations into the matter are ongoing, and released this statement attributed to Schneiderman:
"My office is committed to ensuring consumers have the opportunity to purchase tickets at face value, so that New Yorkers can afford to see the performers they love. Our investigation uncovered the widespread use of illegal bots by ticket brokers. We are working to address the use of bots by scalpers in New York State, and welcome Senator Schumer’s efforts at the federal level."
Schumer says the BOTS Act will help authorities go after those using bots across state lines, or internationally. He says he hopes the bill will pass by the end of the year.
