An Arizona lawmaker wants the state to crack down on the use of bots to buy up popular concert tickets and resell them to the public at sky-high prices.
A new bill sponsored by Rep. David Cook (R-Globe) would make it illegal to use bots to circumvent website features meant to limit the number of tickets individuals can buy to concerts, sporting events and other entertainment. Under the bill, individuals could be fined up to $10,000 for each violation.
The bill would task the Arizona Attorney General’s Office with investigating claims that individuals are violating the law.
“I nicknamed that my Taylor Swift bill,” Cook said, adding that he first became aware of the issue due to coverage of Swift’s recent tour and the artist’s complaints that her fans had trouble buying tickets.
During a Congressional hearing on the ticketing industry, Live Nation Entertainment President Joe Berchtold blamed scalpers using bots and cyber attacks for many of the problems faced by customers on its platform Ticketmaster during Swift’s tour in 2022, according to NPR.
But Cook said the problem extends beyond concerts with superstar headliners like Swift or Beyonce, citing conversations with other lawmakers about events like the Prescott Rodeo.
“You go to the site, and it says they’re sold out but yet it goes to another site that has all kinds of tickets in it at a much higher rate,” he said.
Seven Democrats have signed on to co-sponsor the bill, and Cook says he believes it will receive even wider bipartisan support during next year’s legislative session.
