New York Passes Legislation To Criminalize Ticket Buying Bots

If there’s one thing that most people could agree on being an absolute nuisance, it’s ticket scalpers – that special few who don’t mind making a living by screwing others over by snapping up dozens of tickets with the sole purpose of selling them for super-inflated prices. It used to be that people would arm themselves with a Web browser and purchase as many tickets as possible as soon as they went on sale, but that’s gone to the wayside now that bots can be used for such purposes – helping to not just decrease tedium, but improve the number of tickets that can be purchased.

It’s a secret to absolutely no one that ticket scalping is a major issue. It causes innocent people to have to shell out way more than face value for a ticket if they want to see an event bad enough. In many cases, the scalpers could earn more than the event members themselves. Engadget notes that in one particular case in New York, one ticket-buying bot managed to scoop up 1,012 tickets in less than a minute.

Flickr: Emmanuel Milou

As it happens, New York state is displeased with these actions, and has gone ahead to criminalize ticket-buying bots. This follows a three-year investigation into the problem, and a problem it certainly is. NY State Assembly speaker Carl E. Heastie says, “This kind of ticket scalping has had a very negative impact on fans that want to enjoy sporting and entertainment events.” No surprise or argument there.

Assembly member Marcos Crespo follows-up: “Countless have lost opportunities to experience the richness of our arts and entertainment industry because there are those willing to circumvent by using automated software to deprive the average consumer of access to entertainment venues. The top music, theatre and athletic talent of our nation have priced their events at levels affordable to the mass public. With this bill becoming law, we will ensure the prices to see such talent will be within reach of all New Yorkers.”

It’s not clear at this point exactly how these ticket buying bot owners will be discovered and charged, but we’d have to imagine that if someone buys a dozen or more tickets at once, it’s going to be easily discovered – especially if gets charged to the same card.

Nonetheless, many have no patience left for ticket scalpers, so all we can do is hope that this move will actually accomplish something, and that other states will soon follow suit.