Congress Joins Battle Against Ticket Bots (csoonline.com)

itwbennett writes: A pair of companion bills now pending in the House and Senate would define the use of bots to buy tickets as an 'unfair and deceptive practice' under the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) Act. It would also become a federal crime, and create a right of action so that private parties can sue in federal court to recover damages. But if a similar law in Tennessee is any example, making the practice illegal doesn't make it any easier to find the people responsible for the bots. The Tennessean reported a year ago that, 'despite the apparent prevalence of the practice, no one has been prosecuted for this hard-to-prove crime in Davidson County.' This may be just another example of members of Congress not understanding the problem, but some experts say that making the bots illegal is at least a start. 'It helps to shine a light on a problem,' says Rami Essaid, cofounder and CEO of Distil Networks.

Comments

How is this different...

[Lead Butthead]

How is this any different from High Frequency Trading?
Because one made regular (ungodly large) campaign contributions to the loops in Washington and the other one does not?

Wait a Minute

[freeze128]

It's a short hop from outlawing ticked-buying bots to also outlawing automated stock-trading software. This might be just the thing that the ordinary man needs to take back control of the economy.

Illegal?

[DogDude]

Why should it be illegal? Why should I care about this? If something is too expensive because the ticket face price is too much, or the reseller's price is too high, I don't go. I don't see what the problem is.

Re:Illegal?

[Anonymous Coward]

That's pretty much the point right there.

The real problem with ticket scalpers is the population itself.

You want scalpers to go away? Here's what you do. Do NOT purchase tickets from anywhere but the original seller. Ever.

If EVERYONE did this, then scalpers would fucking panic extremely fast as they end up with tickets they can't sell that they spent a lot of money on. If they do that a couple of times, they'll be freaking bankrupt. It's not like they can return the tickets. (And if they can, the ticket issuer should fix that.)

Sure, it might make for some pitiful audiences at a few shows, but so long as the performers know the house was sold out, they're still getting paid and they'll understand why it's like that. (At which point they encourage everyone to move closer for a cool show!)

You don't need a legal solution, as the parent says. You ALSO don't need a technical solution. All you need is a fucking social solution. And it WILL work, so long as everyone (or the VAST majority) play along.

Reverse Auction

[Macdude]

All the ticket sellers have to do is use reverse auction style ticket pricing. Start with (very) high prices when the tickets initially go on sale then drop the price on a day-by-day basis as the event gets closer.

That way there is no practical way to buy low sell high.

Re:It makes it not quite so impossible to fight ba

[ShanghaiBill]

The solution is a reverse auction. You set a high initial price, say, 30 days before the event. Some people will pay that price, because they want to be sure to get a seat. Then you lower the price by a few percent each day. If sales are lagging, you lower the price faster. If sales are ahead of predictions, you lower the price more slowly. Frugal people may wait, to get a lower price, but then they run the risk of getting nothing. You end up with no empty seats (unless people are unwilling to attend at any price), everyone pays what they think it is worth, and, since there is no margin for scalpers, all the money goes to support the venue and the performers.

Or we could just pass a law, raise taxes, and hire more police.

Re: It makes it not quite so impossible to fight b

[Bobb Sledd]

That's the dumbest idea I've ever heard, and I get to weigh in because I'm a gigging musician as well.

If a family member can't get all the tickets for their group, then that really sucks ass.

Secondly, if the venue looks empty, then that's because the scalper couldn't sell all the tickets in the first place, which means the venue actually sold more than they would have anyway, so they have little to complain about.

I don't think you SHOULD have any legal say about what I do with my tickets I purchase; they're mine. This sets an AWFUL precedent.