Congress tightens bot-ticket crackdown, requiring sellers to secure systems
S. 196 — MAIN Event Ticketing Act · Filed by Marsha Blackburn (R-TN) · 1 cosponsor · Introduced Jan 22, 2025 · Reported out
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What it does
This bill strengthens the 2016 BOTS Act by expanding the definition of illegal ticket-buying automation, requiring online ticket sellers to maintain and regularly update security systems to prevent bot purchases, and mandating they report circumvention incidents to the FTC within 30 days. It also requires the FTC to issue guidance within one year and coordinate with law enforcement on cyberattacks targeting ticket-sale systems.
Why we flagged it
The bill's operative mechanism is to expand and strengthen enforcement of existing anti-bot ticket-sales law by requiring ticket issuers to maintain security systems, report breaches, and coordinate with law enforcement. This is a straightforward consumer-protection measure, not a deregulation or carve-out.
What the text implies
- The FTC guidance limitation (subsection (3)) prevents the Commission from using guidance to establish rights or bind enforcement beyond the statute's text, potentially narrowing the agency's interpretive flexibility in future enforcement actions.
- Reporting requirements may create a data trail that law enforcement can access, expanding surveillance of ticket-sale infrastructure and potentially enabling broader cybersecurity investigations beyond bot circumvention.
The full analysis lists 4 implications of this text.
Who stands to gain
Online ticket issuers (Ticketmaster, StubHub, AXS, etc.) — compliance costs offset by reduced bot-dr; Event promoters and venues — reduced ticket fraud and secondary-market cannibalization