Featured Image: United States Senate, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons
US Senator Richard Blumenthal (pictured) has called on the Federal Trade Commission to take further action against “deceptive and unlawful practices in the live event ticketing market”, arguing that since the Better Online Ticket Sales Act (BOTS Act) was enacted in December 2016, it has only been enforced once.
The Act effectively bans ‘ticket bots’ that bypass security measures on online ticketing websites to out-price individual fans.
In a letter to FTC Chair Lina Khan, Blumenthal has urged the agency to enforce existing consumer protection laws and protect concertgoers and small venues from predatory ticketing schemes and holiday ticket sales.
“High-profile ticketing failures, such as Ticketmaster’s mishandling of Taylor Swift’s Eras Tour, have brought renewed attention to the persistent and pervasive issue of scalpers and misleading marketplaces,” wrote Blumenthal.
“Concertgoers are increasingly competing with well-resourced scalpers, who crowd out real fans with automated bots to buy out seats for even small, local shows.
“And, while many venues do all they can to stop bots from buying up their inventory, small and independent venues are outmatched in the arms race against scalpers’ sophisticated circumvention and impersonation schemes. This struggle to fend off bots and other anti-consumer practices by scalpers also reinforces the market power of large venues and dominant ticket sales platforms, such as Live Nation/Ticketmaster, when independent venues find themselves unable to protect real consumers’ access themselves.”
Blumenthal concluded: “I urge the Federal Trade Commission to vigorously enforce our consumer protection laws in the live event market, including the BOTS Act, to protect concertgoers and venues from predatory ticketing schemes.”
Last year, Blumenthal, along with fellow Senator Sheldon Whitehouse, introduced new legislation to eliminate excessive fees and enforce transparency.
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