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The UK government is working on introducing blockchain and a new law to crackdown on touts from using "bots" and "robots" that purchase tickets in bulk, and later sell them at an exorbitant price.
The new law would be presented in Parliament to control such software from purchasing tickets beyond the specified limits set by event organizers. Lawmakers are also considering British startup Aventus, and Dutch startup Guaranteed Unique Ticket System “to make it impossible to resell tickets at a higher price,” a government statement maintained.
According to Ticketmaster, bots purchase more than 60 percent of tickets for high profile events illegally. A white paper by Aventus on the use of blockchain for preventing illegal ticket sales claimed once touts manage to dominate the available tickets from the primary market, they place them onto secondary markets extremely quickly at inflated prices, which average 49 percent above their face-value in the primary market but with some margins exceeding 1,000 percent.
To prevent such frauds, "each ticket would have a unique identifier on the blockchain." Once a purchase succeeds, "a name, identity document number, credit card number or a photo of the owner is associated with the ticket as a means of proving identity,” the white paper explained.
Another British firm, DICE, is using innovative mobile technology to lock tickets to user accounts and beat the touts. The Department for Business, Energy, and Industrial Strategy had also introduced similar rules requiring ticket resellers to provide more information around resold event tickets. Resellers now have to supply any unique ticket numbers (UTN) to the buyer to identify a ticket’s seat, standing area or location.
The scale and outreach of the bots have not only duped fans, but also fleeced high profile artists too. Popular musical "Hamilton" saw tickets advertised on the secondary ticketing market for up to 8,410 US dollars. “Artists including Adele and Ed Sheeran have also been targeted by professional touts,” the statement maintained.
Margot James, minister for Digital and the Creative Industries, claimed this week the government would reach the final stage in the fight to beat rip-off ticket touts. “They use bots to buy huge numbers of tickets only to sell them on at massively over-inflated prices. I’m determined to make sure everyone has the chance to see their favorite stars at a fair price,” she said.
Last year, the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport had announced a series of measures to curb the growing menace of the secondary ticketing industry that dominated the market. The department has expressed a strong commitment to making secondary ticket sales promoted by bots illegal under the Digital Economy Act. The new offense will mean touts using automated software to bulk buy tickets for resale on secondary ticketing sites at hugely inflated prices will face an unlimited fine.
Consumer Minister Andrew Griffiths said, “Fans have a right to know exactly what they’re signing up to on ticket resale websites, but all too often people are left feeling ripped off when the ticket doesn’t match expectations.”
The government’s move is being cheered by fans and the music industry. Michael Dugher, UK Music's chief executive, expressed his delight and maintained that the government has listened to calls from UK Music and industry campaigners like the FanFair Alliance to ban bots. “We also need much stronger action from Google which is still directing fans to sites like Viagogo at the top of an online search, rather than to official ticketing.”
He added music fans had been fleeced for far too long and he would continue to work with the lawmakers "to ensure our fantastic live music industry continues to bring enjoyment to millions of people and to make over a £1 billion annual contribution to the UK economy."
(CGTN)
