US Government pushes to criminalise ticket bots

It has been the subject of huge controversy around the world this year, but it looks like the US Government are on their way to making the use of ticket-buying bots a criminal offence.

Both the Congress and the Senate have pushed through the BOTS (Better Online Ticket Sales) act, which would make using ticket bots an “unfair and deceptive practice” under the Federal Trade Commission Act. While states like New York have already begun to make the use of ticket-buying bots illegal, this will become the first law of its kind to reach a federal level.

Earlier this year, You Me At 6 frontman Josh Franceschi spoke to British MPs of the Culture, Media and Sport Committee in order to clamp down on the use of bots on secondary ticket websites, claiming they "masquerade as fan-to-fan marketplaces".

Watch his video on the issue via the BBC show Daily Politics below.

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