The government is to hold a meeting to investigate large scale online ticket touting, which will involve ‘all interested parties’.
The meeting was suggested by Matthew Hancock MP, minister for digital and culture, following a debate in parliament this week.
It will take place before Christmas and will centre on industrial scale touting and the bot technology that facilitates it.
There will also be further discussions between the National Cyber Security Centre and primary ticketing companies.
The issue was initially raised in parliament by Nigel Adams MP, who presented an amendment to the Digital Economy Bill which would make illegal the misuse of bot technology by ticket touts.
In the debate that followed, the UK’s online ticket resale market was described as ‘a racket’ and enforcement of current legislation contained in the Consumer Rights Act 2015 as ‘extremely patchy’.
Following the meetings, the government will respond to recommendations made in the May 2016’s Waterson Report of secondary ticketing.
So, on the basis of a ‘clear commitment to making progress in this area’, Adams’ amendment was withdrawn.
Commenting on these developments, Adam Webb, Campaign Manager for the FanFair Alliance, said: ‘We fully support Nigel Adams MP in pursuing this issue. The abuse of software by touts to hack into ticketing sales and scalp inventory is a major bugbear for genuine fans and it is an issue where we need clarity in the law.
‘However, as was made clear by MPs at the Committee and also by the Minister, action against bots is not a silver bullet. To make the ticketing market function better for audiences, we also need proper enforcement of existing consumer law and regulation of the Big Four resale platforms.’
Related
Performers should set the price of live tickets, not touts, says Nigel Adams MP
The meeting was suggested by Matthew Hancock MP, minister for digital and culture, following a debate in parliament this week.
It will take place before Christmas and will centre on industrial scale touting and the bot technology that facilitates it.
There will also be further discussions between the National Cyber Security Centre and primary ticketing companies.
The issue was initially raised in parliament by Nigel Adams MP, who presented an amendment to the Digital Economy Bill which would make illegal the misuse of bot technology by ticket touts.
In the debate that followed, the UK’s online ticket resale market was described as ‘a racket’ and enforcement of current legislation contained in the Consumer Rights Act 2015 as ‘extremely patchy’.
Following the meetings, the government will respond to recommendations made in the May 2016’s Waterson Report of secondary ticketing.
So, on the basis of a ‘clear commitment to making progress in this area’, Adams’ amendment was withdrawn.
Commenting on these developments, Adam Webb, Campaign Manager for the FanFair Alliance, said: ‘We fully support Nigel Adams MP in pursuing this issue. The abuse of software by touts to hack into ticketing sales and scalp inventory is a major bugbear for genuine fans and it is an issue where we need clarity in the law.
‘However, as was made clear by MPs at the Committee and also by the Minister, action against bots is not a silver bullet. To make the ticketing market function better for audiences, we also need proper enforcement of existing consumer law and regulation of the Big Four resale platforms.’
Related
Performers should set the price of live tickets, not touts, says Nigel Adams MP
