FTC Brings First-Ever Cases Under the BOTS Act

The three ticket brokers will be subject to a judgment of more than $31 million in civil penalties for violating the Better Online Ticket Sales (BOTS) Act, under a proposed settlement reached with the FTC.

Metadata

Provider:

FTC

URL:

https://www.ftc.gov/news-events/press-releases/2021/01/ftc-brings-first-ever-cases-under-bots-act

Retrieved on:

Friday, January 22, 2021

Information

Tags:

Black markets, Tickets, Internet bots, Ticket resale, Video game bot, Distribution marketing), Bots, Better Online Tickets Sales Act

Summary

Key Points:

The three ticket brokers will be subject to a judgment of more than $31 million in civil penalties for violating the Better Online Ticket Sales (BOTS) Act, under a proposed settlement reached with the FTC.
Due to their inability to pay, the judgment will be partially suspended, requiring them to pay $3.7 million.
This is the first case brought under the BOTS Act, which was enacted in 2016 and gives the FTC authority to take law enforcement action against individuals and companies that use bots or other means to circumvent limits on online ticket purchases.
The proposed orders also prohibit the defendants from further violations of the BOTS Act, including using methods to evade ticket limits, using false identities to purchase tickets, or using any bots to facilitate ticket purchases.