MEPs vote to ban bots bulk buying tickets
Members of the European Parliament have voted to ban the use of bots to mass-purchase tickets for sporting and entertainment events.
The move has been welcomed by Fine Gael’s Noel Rock whose Prohibition of Above-cost Ticket Touting Bill is making its way through the Oireachtas.
The bill, if passed, will also prohibit the use of automated “bot” software to block-buy tickets in excess of the number permitted by event organisers.
Bots enable touts or “scalpers” to purchase hundreds or thousands of tickets simultaneously and sell them onto fans at inflated prices.
The bill, proposed by Mr Rock and Fianna Fáil’s Stephen Donnelly, has passed the second stage. Mr Rock said Enterprise Minister Heather Humphreys is likely to introduce amendments to “future-proof” the legislation.
Ms Humphreys has also said she intends to introduce an amendment to ban the unauthorised sale of tickets for the Euro 2020 Championship, part of which will be hosted in Dublin.
The European Parliament vote to outlaw the use of bots to circumvent ticket purchasing rules including maximum buying limits is, according to observers, the first time the EU has directly addressed the issue of ticket resale. It will require resellers to identify if they are professionals sellers.
The legislation sets the minimum standard by which member states must abide, and will allow for more stringent provisions at national level, such as a complete ban on resale for profit.
Now that parliament has adopted its position, the council will have to formally adopt it. Once the legislation has been fully adopted, member states will be given a maximum of around two years to transpose the amendments into national law.
Daniel Dalton MEP, member of the European Conservatives and Reformists Group and rapporteur of the revised Unfair Commercial Practices Directive in which the new legislation is captured, said: “Everyone apart from touts lose out from bot bulk buying of tickets, real fans either are unable to see their favourite team or artist or forced to pay many times the face value price, whilst event organisers are seeing their purchasing limits flagrantly violated.
“So this first ever ban at a European level is an important first step, with the possibility to go further in future depending on how the ban works in practice.”
Katie O’Leary, Face-value European Alliance for Ticketing (FEAT) Campaign spokesperson, said they welcomed the move “to curb the use of bots in this first Europe-wide anti-touting law”.
“Most importantly, this represents the first step in harmonising regulation across Europe. This approach is critical as we know secondary ticketing companies like to exploit regulatory gaps,” she said.
Mr Rock said the more recognition ticket touting received, the more parliaments would pick up on it as a legitimate issue “and as something they could legislate on”.
As well as banning bots, the EU vote will lead to new measures forcing greater clarity in online reviews and price comparison sites.
