Companion legislation will be introduced Tuesday to build on a bill aimed at stopping ticket scalpers from using software to purchase a high volume of tickets while codifying an executive order made by President Donald Trump.
The bipartisan bill, titled the Mitigating Automated Internet Networks Event Ticketing Act, is co-sponsored by Reps. Diana Harshbarger (R-TN) and Troy Carter (D-LA) and will be introduced Tuesday morning. The legislation would codify Trump’s effort to hold ticket scalpers accountable.
It is a companion bill of Sens. Marsha Blackburn (R-TN) and Ben Ray Luján (D-NM) that aims to protect fans by reforming America’s live entertainment ticketing industry.
“Far too many Americans face excessive price-gouging for tickets from online bots and resellers, and I am committed to ensuring Americans can enjoy live entertainment without the fear of being scammed,” Luján said in a statement.
The live concert and entertainment industry in the U.S. has an economic impact of $132.6 billion while supporting over 900,000 jobs.
Ticket scalpers use bots to acquire mass amounts of face-value tickets to turn around and sell them at an inflated price. The money made after face value goes directly to the scalper and ticketing agency.
The bill builds on legislation signed into law in 2016 by then-President Barack Obama while prohibiting software for high-volume sales but looks to build on the law in four ways: require online ticket-sellers to report successful bot attacks to the Federal Trade Commission, create a complaint database that is shared with the FTC and state attorneys generals, require Congress to receive a report on Better Online Ticket Sales Act enforcement, and require online ticket sellers to enact data security requirements while sharing the information between the FTC and law enforcement.
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“If there’s one thing that can bring us all together, it’s music and entertainment,” Harshbarger said. “This is especially true for east Tennessee, as we’re home to music legends like Dolly Parton and Morgan Wallen.”
“Whether it’s attending a concert or a stand-up show, we all love spending time with friends and family to enjoy live entertainment,” she continued. “What no one loves is trying to buy a ticket to see your favorite performer — only to find that scalpers have scooped up most of the tickets and are reselling them at exorbitant prices.”