Sales & Marketing

Ticket resale sites could be prosecuted under new proposals

Paying inflated ticket prices due to lax laws around resale websites could become a thing of the past in the UK.

Under proposals aimed at curbing the secondary ticketing market, sites like Viagogo, Stubhub, Seatwave and GetMeIn could face prosecution unless they have written permission from event organisers, according to the Guardian newspaper.

Campaigners have said that the amendments to the digital economy bill that members of the House of Lords have put forward would outlaw much of the controversial ticket resale industry through strict penalties, including a maximum fine of £5,000 or prison terms of up to a year for the use of bot software to harvest tickets.

Another amendment would see internet service providers fined if they do not withdraw internet access from touts who breach consumer law.

Security consultant and ticketing expert Reg Walker said: “It will go a long way to curbing the activities of the secondary ticket market which prevents fans from buying tickets at face value, artificially inflates prices, and makes music and sporting events unaffordable to a whole strata of society.”

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