Last month, the UK proposed new legislation that suggests prison time and a £5,000 fine for scalper bot users, hoping to lessen the cost and stress for people looking to purchase tickets fairly. Ticket resellers oftentimes use scalper bots to evade the ticket limit per person on event sites, leading to events selling out extremely quickly and scalpers reselling their tickets at ridiculously high prices. Apparently, the UK’s Conservative MP Nigel Adams’ inspiration for this crackdown came after he himself was unable to purchase concert tickets due to scalper bots.

Following suit, New York State has passed similar legislation in an effort to restore “equity” in its ticketing market. Enforcing tough penalties on individuals caught partaking in the illegal practice of using scalper bots, the new legislation states that an individual who uses scalper bots or resells tickets that were knowingly purchased using scalper bots will be charged with a class A misdemeanor, which can mean sizable fines and up to a year in jail.

New York Governor Andrew Cuomo made the following statement on his website regarding the new ruling:

“These unscrupulous speculators and their underhanded tactics have manipulated the marketplace and often leave New Yorkers and visitors alike with little choice but to buy tickets on the secondary market at an exorbitant mark-up.” It’s predatory, it’s wrong and, with this legislation, we are taking an important step towards restoring fairness and equity back to this multi-billion dollar industry.”

H/T: Mixmag

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Tags: legislation, New York State, ticket scalpers

Categories: News