[Congressional Record Volume 168, Number 184 (Wednesday, November 30, 2022)]
[Senate]
[Pages S6885-S6886]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]



                                BOTS Act

  Mrs. BLACKBURN. Mr. President, earlier this month, Ticketmaster truly 
met its match after hundreds of thousands of Taylor Swift fans walked 
away empty-handed from a disastrous online ticket presale. Ticketmaster 
blamed a combination of demand and ``a staggering number of bot 
attacks'' for the slow-moving queues and last-minute crashes that left 
fans furious and with a lot of questions. They still want to know how 
all of those tickets that were in their carts just disappeared.
  Now, this isn't the first time we have seen Ticketmaster struggle to 
manage bot attacks. Other popular tours have given their web developers 
a workout. But this time, the company failed on such an unprecedented 
scale that people who don't follow popular music know exactly what 
happened. Anytime a major company causes this level of disappointment 
in their customers, we see consumer protection advocates launch new 
demands for antitrust investigations.
  And I am sure most of my colleagues know that has happened here in 
the Senate. Some of my Judiciary Committee colleagues have already 
promised a hearing to explore potential antitrust violations of 
Ticketmaster. But here's the problem: Spending more

[[Page S6886]]

time and resources examining competition in the online ticket 
marketplace isn't going to solve the problem that caused this mess. To 
do that, we need to back up and understand how bots actually work.
  All ticket sellers use technological safeguards to impose limits on 
the number of tickets each buyer can purchase. Your average ticket 
buyer doesn't have the skills to sidestep those limits, but modern-day 
scalpers do. All they need to do is write a software program--or a 
bot--to get around those safeguards. Because of the way these bots 
work, one scalper can purchase hundreds or thousands of tickets in just 
seconds after they go on sale. When this happens, real consumers end up 
at the back of the line because no matter how fast you click, you are 
not going to beat a bot.
  Fortunately, we already have a way to solve this problem that will 
benefit both the artist and their fans. In 2016, when I was still 
serving in the House, I led congressional efforts to pass the Better 
Online Ticket Sales Act, also known as the BOTS Act. Senator Schumer 
led that effort here in the Senate.
  This bill made it unlawful for scalpers to circumvent the controls 
used by ticket issuers to limit sales. It also created a backstop: If 
the scalpers do manage to get their hands on too many tickets, the BOTS 
Act made it illegal for scalpers to resell those tickets on the 
secondary market. The BOTS Act passed the Federal Trade Commission with 
enforcement authority, but the FTC has not followed through.
  In January 2021, the FTC took its first and only enforcement action 
under the BOTS Act against three New York-based brokers for conduct 
that began in 2017. That is one enforcement action in 6 years.
  Now, one of two things can be true here: Either the existing 
enforcement mechanisms are faulty, or the FTC's approach to using them 
is faulty. This is the investigation that we should focus on.
  I want to thank my colleague, Senator Blumenthal, for helping me kick 
it off. This week, we sent a letter to the FTC asking a few very simple 
questions about how they are using their BOTS Act authority.
  First, does the FTC have any pending enforcement actions?
  Second, why has the FTC only undertaken a single enforcement action 
to date?
  Third, are there any obstacles preventing the FTC from exercising its 
authority?
  And, finally, are there other solutions Congress needs to consider in 
conjunction with the BOTS Act?
  The Commissioners have a choice. They can either tell us how we can 
expect them to use their BOTS authority in the future, or they can tell 
us what they need to get the job done.
  The trickle-down effects of their failure to enforce the law have put 
music fans in a bind, but it is important to remember that the 
entertainment industry is not the only industry that will suffer if the 
FTC does not do its job.
  Especially since the beginning of the pandemic, we have seen entire 
industries move their operations online. This has presented scalpers 
and bot programmers with a golden opportunity to branch out and start 
forcing consumers into secondary markets for sports tickets, movie 
tickets, sneakers, video game consoles, popular toys, and other items 
that come with limited availability. In 2021, tickets for the opening 
of the newest Spiderman movie went for $100 on the secondary market--
which is about five times the regular price of a movie ticket.
  Now, you may not care about concerts or movies, but consider how this 
could eventually trickle down to affect the things that you really do 
care about. Anywhere you find that combination of scarcity and 
popularity, you are going to find bots blocking access to the market. 
And for the average person, there is nothing that individual is going 
to be able to do about it.
  We, however, can do something about this; but as I said, an antitrust 
investigation isn't going to get the job done. If my colleagues want to 
fulfill their promise to fix the problems that led so many music fans 
to be disappointed earlier this month, they need to join me and Senator 
Blumenthal in working with the FTC to enforce the law against these 
ticket scalpers.
  I yield the floor.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Maryland.