High on the ever-growing list of ‘worst people on the internet’ are the ticket touts who use bots to buy-up masses of tickets with the intention of selling for huge profits on the secondary market.
While consumers patiently wait in-line filling in CAPTCHA boxes, these folks have intricate means of bypassing the security checks, as well as the limit on how many tickets can be purchased at a time.
(pullquotes)The result is popular events sold out in truly unfeasible amounts of time and a mad dash to pay inflated prices to criminals just to guarantee a ticket to see our favourites.
While some artists, heavily critical of the practice, have started to use effective means of resisting the touts, it finally appears the UK government is serious about doing something about it.
An amendment to the Digital Economy Bill will make the use of bots a criminal offense punishable by an unlimited fine (via BBC).
Minister of State for Digital and Culture, Matt Hancock, said: “
“It’s a growing problem that affects too many people.”
The UK is actually a little behind in tackling this problem. Using bots was banned in New York State after one had been able to purchase 1,000 tickets to see U2 at the famous Madison Square Garden arena.
That ban has now been extended across the United States (via Engadget).
How would you tackle bulk-buying bots? Share your thoughts below.
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Editorial independence
Editorial independence means being able to give an unbiased verdict about a product or company, with the avoidance of conflicts of interest. To ensure this is possible, every member of the editorial staff follows a clear code of conduct.
Professional conduct
We also expect our journalists to follow clear ethical standards in their work. Our staff members must strive for honesty and accuracy in everything they do. We follow the IPSO Editors’ code of practice to underpin these standards.
