A.G. Schneiderman Op-Ed: How To Beat New York’s Robo-Scalpers

Attorney General Eric T. Schneiderman wrote an op-ed in the New York Post on the need for the state Legislature to pass a bill cracking down on illegal online ticket bots. Highlights from the op-ed are below:

ON THE PROBLEM OF TICKET BOTS: Within seconds of tickets getting released online, brokers swoop in, many relying on sophisticated, illegal software — known as “ticket bots” — to purchase large numbers of tickets as soon as they go on sale.

… Brokers then take these tickets to resale sites like StubHub or TicketsNow to sell at significantly higher prices — the brokers we looked at increased the price 49 percent on average. We found evidence that a broker using a ticket bot once purchased a ticket to a One Direction show for $101 — and resold it at 70 times that price.

ON HOW TO STOP THE USE OF BOTS: Though bot use is already prohibited and subject to civil penalties, it’s such a lucrative practice — earning brokers millions of dollars a year — that many brokers have been willing to risk breaking these relatively weak laws knowing they can afford to pay the fines and then return to business as usual. The problem will persist and grow unless the law is strengthened to punish and better deter illegal bot use.

ON THE NEED FOR THE STATE LEGISLATURE TO ACT: A bill in the state Legislature, similar to one I proposed in April, has the chance to finally level the playing field. It would make it unlawful for ticket brokers to knowingly resell tickets that were purchased using bots, and make using a bot to buy tickets a misdemeanor for the first offense and a felony for additional offenses.

The state Senate has already passed the bill. The Assembly should follow suit.

New York is a global hub of music and culture — and New Yorkers deserve to be able to experience all the culture this great state has to offer at a reasonable price. The Legislature must act now to fix this rigged system.

The full op-ed can be read here.