The UK government has set out a timetable by which it will consider the future of the secondary ticketing market.
Matthew Hancock, Minister for Digital and Culture, has committed to instigating a meeting between “all interested parties” to discuss the issue before the end of the year.
The government will then formally respond to the recommendations made by the Waterson Review of the entire secondary ticketing market, which was published in May 2016.
There will also be further discussions between the National Cyber Security Centre and primary ticketing companies.
Following the announcement, Conservative MP Nigel Adams, who heads up the All Party Parliamentary Group For Music, dropped his proposed amendment to the Digital Economy Bill, which would have criminalised the use of bots that touts use to buy up large numbers of tickets from primary sellers as they go on sale.
“We fully support Nigel Adams MP in pursuing this issue,” said Adam Webb, campaign manager for the FanFair Alliance, a music industry group that wants to see greater control of the secondary market. “The abuse of software by touts to hack into ticketing sales and scalp inventory is a major bugbear for genuine fans and it is an issue where we need clarity in the law.
“However, as was made clear by MPs at the Committee and also by the Minister, action against bots is not a silver bullet. To make the ticketing market function better for audiences, we also need proper enforcement of existing consumer law and regulation of the Big Four resale platforms.”
Share this