Scalper bots are now banned in Ontario, as a bill to protect ticket buyers passed Wednesday, though the ticket industry warns some parts of the legislation may actually put fans at a disadvantage.
The provisions in a new Ticket Sales Act are contained in omnibus consumer protection legislation that also includes strengthening rules around home warranties, real estate practices and travel services in Ontario.
Changes to ticket selling laws include banning so-called scalper bots, which buy a large number of tickets online for an event and then resell them at a large profit.
The ticket sales and events industry largely welcomed the ban, with Ticketmaster, a major ticket seller, saying it is in an “arms race” to develop new tools to combat the bots. In North America the company blocked five billion bots last year, an executive told the legislative committee considering the bill last month.
“There are only two types of buyers: There are fans and there are cheaters,” Patti-Anne Tarlton from Ticketmaster Canada told the committee. “It’s no secret that there’s a vast network of cheaters, both domestic and globally, who are seeking to manipulate and game our system. The goal is for them to beat fans at on-sale and to cheat fans at resale.”
Ontario Attorney General Yasir Naqvi has acknowledged that enforcement may be difficult when it comes to bots that often operate from outside Canada, so he said the law aims to undercut both profit incentive and resale abilities.
Read the full story over at Global News.
