Better On-Line Ticket Sales Act of 2016

Floor Speech

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Mrs. BLACKBURN. Mr. Speaker, I do rise today to support the Better On-line Ticket Sales Act, H.R. 5104, or as you have heard it called today, the BOTS Act. It is bipartisan legislation. Mr. Tonko of New York has done a tremendous job working on this with me. Together, we have worked with the Senators to make certain that we have legislation that can be signed into law that will address a problem that so many of our constituents face. Now, we know it is not going to be something that does everything everyone would want, but we do know this is the first step in working with the FTC making certain that we address these bots.

The problem is this: we have some individuals or groups that deploy hacking software--it is called bots. Short for robots, of course--that launch thousands of simultaneous requests for tickets on a ticket site.

Now, I am certain many of us have tried to buy a ticket as soon as they go on sale, just as Ms. Schakowsky was talking about the performance of Hamilton. We see this a lot with concerts that are coming into Nashville. You go on. You log on. You want to buy that ticket for that sporting event or for that concert, and the bots overwhelm the site and cherry-pick the very best tickets. Then what do you find? You don't have the ability to purchase a ticket.

This has become so frustrating to consumers because they do plan to go on and they do plan to buy that ticket. The site just slows to a crawl, and then when they get through, the tickets are sold out.

This is something that has been very frustrating not only to consumers, but to artists, to entertainers, to fans of live entertainment, and to sports teams.

The artists and the teams often price tickets well below the highest possible price they might be able to get from the fans for any particular event. They do this as a way to invest in that long-term relationship with their fans.

The BOTS Act would make it an unfair and deceptive practice under the FTC Act to use a bot to violate both the terms and conditions of the ticketing site. Also, it creates a mechanism where the State Attorneys General can bring a cause of action against the botsters.

The BOTS Act will stop people from gaming the ticketing system, and it will increase access to events for fans of live entertainment.

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