Congress tightens bot rules, requires ticket platforms to report attacks within 30 days
H.R. 2713 — MAIN Event Ticketing Act · Filed by Diana Harshbarger (R-TN) · 1 cosponsor · Introduced Apr 8, 2025 · Markup held
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What it does
This bill strengthens the 2016 BOTS Act by expanding the definition of illegal ticket-buying bots to include software that circumvents security measures or purchasing limits, and requires ticket-selling websites to implement security safeguards, report bot attacks to the FTC within 30 days, and take steps to fix vulnerabilities. The FTC gains enforcement authority with civil penalties of $10,000+ per day of violation, and must create a public complaint website and publish guidance within one year.
Why we flagged it
The bill's core mechanism is expanding and strengthening anti-bot enforcement in ticket sales, with new security requirements on platforms and FTC civil penalties. It is a consumer-protection measure aimed at reducing scalping and improving ticket-purchase fairness.
What the text implies
- The 30-day incident reporting requirement may create a new compliance burden and liability exposure for ticket platforms, potentially raising operational costs that could be passed to consumers through higher ticket prices or service fees.
- The bill grants the FTC broad discretion to define 'reasonable' security safeguards without prescriptive standards, creating regulatory uncertainty and potential for inconsistent enforcement across platforms of different sizes.
The full analysis lists 4 implications of this text.
Who stands to gain
Ticket issuers and platforms (Ticketmaster, StubHub, etc.) that comply with security standards may g; Cybersecurity and compliance software vendors (access control, monitoring, reporting tools)