Digital Economy Bill To Curb Online Touts

The UK’s newly passed Digital Economy Bill criminalizes the bulk-buy of tickets through the misuse of an “electronic communications network.” 

– FANFAIR

What is more, an amendment to the UK’s Consumer Rights Act forces resale platforms to provide enough information for consumers to make sure they’re buying a valid ticket.

Such information includes the original face value of a ticket details of seat and row number, if it is a seated ticket, information about any restrictions limiting the use of the ticket, including any resale restrictions, as well as a unique ticket number.

The changes come while the UK’s Competition and Markets Authority is investigating the online secondary ticketing market for breaches of consumer protection law. As the UK’s Fan Fair Alliance emphasizes, “all these actions will be for nothing if UK law is not enforced, and professional ticket touts are allowed to continue operating with impunity.”

Alan Gelfand, founder and CEO of Canada-based Fair Ticket Solutions, points out that a technology to enforce government regulations is still needed, and he believes that his company’s Authenticket technology could do the job.

If the new law is enforced, “it will give users some assurances that the ticket they are buying actually exists, as well as disrupting the practices of hardcore touts that thrive on sites like Viagogo, StubHub, Get Me In! and Seatwave,” the Fan Fair Alliance concludes.