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Pascrell Reintroduces BOSS Act
U.S. Rep. Bill Pascrell said May 2 he will reintroduce a bill that would toughen regulations on ticket brokers and make it a crime to use bots to jam online ticketing sites, according to the New Jersey Star-Ledger.
In January, fans complained they were kicked offline during a Springsteen onsale, and TM said the cause was a cyber attack from scalpers.
Pascrell discussed the reintroduction of “The BOSS ACT,” now with the added “2012 Tour” at the end, outside the Prudential Center.
“This is a multibillion dollar business filled with corruption, kickbacks and backroom deals, and the little guy doesn’t stand a chance,” Pascrell reportedly said.
The new version would include making it illegal for brokers to use software programs to circumvent security procedures and calls for the creation of a Justice Department task force to investigate such online scalping techniques. It would also establish consumer protections for paperless ticketing, which has not been a very popular innovation with secondary ticketers.
Maybe most interesting, and perhaps least likely to be passed, are provisions requiring primary ticket sellers to make public the total number of seats available for sale and disclose all tickets being withheld for fan clubs, presales and artists holds. Brokers would be required to register with the Federal Trade Commission and be prohibited from purchasing tickets within the first 48 hours of the public onsale.
The bill also says a refund must be allowed two weeks before an event and prohibits fees on the first transfer of tickets, according to the Star-Ledger. Like the first bill, it includes establishment of transparency and accountability for primary and secondary markets. The first bill, introduced in 2009, died in committee.
“Every single person has a Ticketmaster horror story,” Pascrell said. “We need transparency in the business.”