II 

118TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 3457 

To promote fairness in the sale of event tickets. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

DECEMBER 7, 2023 

Mr. CORNYN (for himself, Ms. KLOBUCHAR, Mrs. BLACKBURN, Mr. WELCH, 

Mr. WICKER, and Mr. LUJA ́N) introduced the following bill; which was 

read twice and referred to the Committee on Commerce, Science, and 

Transportation 

A BILL 

To promote fairness in the sale of event tickets. 

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE; TABLE OF CONTENTS. 

4 (a) SHORT TITLE.—This Act may be cited as the 

5 ‘‘Fans First Act’’. 

6 (b) TABLE OF CONTENTS.—The table of contents of 

7 this Act is as follows: 

Sec. 1. Short title; table of contents. 

Sec. 2. Definitions. 

Sec. 3. Ensuring ticketing market integrity. 

Sec. 4. Strengthening the BOTS Act. 

Sec. 5. Enforcement by the Commission. 

Sec. 6. Enforcement by States. 

Sec. 7. Severability. 


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1 SEC. 2. DEFINITIONS. 

2 In this Act: 

3 (1) AFFIRMATIVE EXPRESS CONSENT.—The 

4 term ‘‘affirmative express consent’’ means an affirm5 ative act by a person that clearly communicates that 

6 person’s freely given, specific, and unambiguous au7 thorization. 

8 (2) ANCILLARY FEE.—The term ‘‘ancillary fee’’ 

9 means any additional charge added to the face value 

10 of an event ticket, excluding taxes. 

11 (3) ARTIST.—The term ‘‘artist’’ means any per12 former, musician, comedian, producer, ensemble, or 

13 production entity of a theatrical production, sports 

14 team owner, or similar individual or entity that con15 tracts with an event organizer to put on an event. 

16 (4) CLEARLY AND CONSPICUOUSLY.—The term 

17 ‘‘clearly and conspicuously’’ means, with respect to 

18 a disclosure, that the disclosure is displayed in a 

19 manner that is difficult to miss and easily under20 standable, including in the following ways: 

21 (A) In the case of a visual disclosure, its 

22 size, contrast, location, the length of time it ap23 pears, and other characteristics, stand out from 

24 any accompanying text or other visual elements 

25 so that it is easily noticed, read, and under26 stood. 


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1 (B) The disclosure must be unavoidable. 

2 (C) The disclosure must use diction and 

3 syntax understandable to ordinary consumers 

4 and must appear in each language in which the 

5 representation that requires the disclosure ap6 pears. 

7 (D) The disclosure must not be contra8 dicted or mitigated by, or inconsistent with, 

9 anything else in the communication. 

10 (5) COMMISSION.—The term ‘‘Commission’’ 

11 means the Federal Trade Commission. 

12 (6) EVENT.— 

13 (A) IN GENERAL.—The term ‘‘event’’ 

14 means a live activity described in subparagraph 

15 (B)— 

16 (i) that is taking place in a venue; 

17 (ii) that is open to the general public; 

18 and 

19 (iii)(I) that is promoted, advertised, or 

20 marketed in interstate commerce; or 

21 (II) for which event tickets are 

22 sold or distributed in interstate com23 merce. 

24 (B) ACTIVITIES DESCRIBED.—The activi25 ties described in this subparagraph are any— 


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1 (i) live concert, 

2 (ii) theatrical performance; 

3 (iii) sporting event; 

4 (iv) comedy show; or 

5 (v) similarly scheduled activity taking 

6 place in a venue. 

7 (C) EXEMPTED EVENTS.—Such term shall 

8 not include a live activity described in subpara9 graph (B) that is— 

10 (i) put on by a religious organization 

11 for non-commercial purposes; 

12 (ii) put on by a K–12 school; or 

13 (iii) a non-sports-related event put on 

14 by a postsecondary school or not-for-profit 

15 entity in which the artists are primarily 

16 students. 

17 (7) EVENT ORGANIZER.—The term ‘‘event or18 ganizer’’ means, with respect to an event, the person 

19 (such as the operator of a venue, the sponsor or pro20 moter of an event, a sports team participating in an 

21 event or a league whose teams are participating in 

22 an event, a theater company, musical group, or simi23 lar participant in an event, or an agent for any such 

24 person) that— 


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1 (A) is primarily responsible for the finan2 cial risk associated with the event; 

3 (B) makes event tickets initially available, 

4 including by contracting with a primary seller; 

5 and 

6 (C)(i) is responsible for organizing, pro7 moting, producing, or presenting an event; or 

8 (ii) in the case of an event for which tick9 ets are sold, holds the rights to present the 

10 event. 

11 (8) EVENT TICKET.—The term ‘‘event ticket’’ 

12 means any manifested physical, electronic, or other 

13 form of a certificate, document, voucher, token, or 

14 other evidence indicating that a person has— 

15 (A) a license to enter an event venue or oc16 cupy a particular seat or area in an event venue 

17 with respect to one or more events; or 

18 (B) an entitlement to purchase such a li19 cense with respect to one or more future events. 

20 (9) FACE VALUE.—The term ‘‘face value’’ 

21 means, with respect to an event ticket, the initial or 

22 acquisition price for the primary sale of the event 

23 ticket, exclusive of any taxes or ancillary fees. 

24 (10) FAN CLUB PROGRAM.—The term ‘‘fan club 

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1 marily established by venues, artists, or performers 

2 to offer pre-sale opportunities offered before public 

3 on-sale of tickets. 

4 (11) PRIMARY SALE.—The term ‘‘primary sale’’ 

5 means, with respect to a particular event ticket, the 

6 initial sale of that event ticket by or on behalf of the 

7 event organizer, or the sale of an event ticket that 

8 was returned to the primary seller or event organizer 

9 after its initial sale and is sold by or on behalf of 

10 the event organizer under the same terms as such 

11 initial sale. 

12 (12) PRIMARY SELLER.—The term ‘‘primary 

13 seller’’ means, with respect to an event ticket, any 

14 person who has the right to sell the event ticket 

15 prior to or at the primary sale of the ticket, includ16 ing the event organizer, or any person that provides 

17 services to conduct or facilitate the primary sale of 

18 event tickets by or on behalf of the event organizer. 

19 (13) RESELLER.—The term ‘‘reseller’’ means a 

20 person who sells or offers for sale, other than 

21 through a primary sale, an event ticket. That a re22 seller is also an event organizer or a primary seller 

23 does not exempt the reseller from this definition. 

24 (14) SECONDARY SALE.—The term ‘‘secondary 

25 sale’’ means any sale of an event ticket other than 


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1 the primary sale of the event ticket, and does not in2 clude the sale of a ticket returned to a primary sell3 er. 

4 (15) SECONDARY TICKETING EXCHANGE.— The 

5 term ‘‘secondary ticketing exchange’’ means any 

6 website, software application, or other digital plat7 form that facilitates or executes the secondary sale 

8 of an event ticket. That a secondary ticketing ex9 change is also an event organizer or a primary seller 

10 does not exempt the secondary ticketing exchange 

11 from this definition. 

12 (16) SELLER.—The term ‘‘seller’’ means any 

13 primary seller, secondary ticketing exchange, re14 seller, or any person that sells or makes available for 

15 sale an event ticket to the public. 

16 (17) TOTAL EVENT TICKET PRICE.—The term 

17 ‘‘total event ticket price’’ means, with respect to an 

18 event ticket, the total cost of the event ticket, includ19 ing the face value price and any ancillary fees but 

20 excluding taxes. 

21 (18) URL.—The term ‘‘URL’’ means the Uni22 form Resource Locator associated with an internet 

23 website. 

24 (19) VENUE.—The term ‘‘venue’’ means a 

25 physical space at which an event takes place. 


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1 SEC. 3. ENSURING TICKETING MARKET INTEGRITY. 

2 (a) BAN ON DECEPTIVE URLS AND IMPROPER USE

3 OF INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY.— 

4 (1) IN GENERAL.—It shall be unlawful for a 

5 secondary ticketing exchange or reseller, or the oper6 ator of any website purporting to sell or offer for 

7 sale event tickets that links or redirects to a sec8 ondary ticketing exchange or reseller, to— 

9 (A) use any artist name, venue name, or 

10 event organizer name, graphic, marketing logo, 

11 image or other intellectual property of the art12 ist, venue, or event organizer including any pro13 prietary resemblance of the venue where an 

14 event shall occur in promotional materials, so15 cial media promotions, or URLs of the sec16 ondary ticketing exchange, reseller, or website 

17 without the prior authorization of the respective 

18 artist, venue, or event organizer under the 

19 terms of agreement between the artist, venue, 

20 or event organizer and the secondary ticketing 

21 exchange, reseller, or website; or 

22 (B) state or imply that the secondary 

23 ticketing exchange, reseller, or website is affili24 ated with or endorsed by a venue, team, or art25 ist, as applicable, including by using words like 

26 ‘‘official’’ in promotional materials, social media 


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1 promotions, search engine optimization, paid 

2 advertising, URLs, or search engine monetiza3 tion unless the secondary ticketing exchange, 

4 reseller, or website has the express written con5 sent of the venue, team, or artist, as applicable. 

6 (2) PERMITTED USE.—Paragraph (1) shall not 

7 prohibit a secondary ticketing exchange or reseller 

8 from using text containing the name of an artist, 

9 venue, or event organizers to describe an event and 

10 identify the location at which the event will occur, or 

11 provide information identifying the space within the 

12 venue that an event ticket would entitle the bearer 

13 to occupy for an event. 

14 (b) SPECULATIVE TICKETING BAN.— 

15 (1) IN GENERAL.—It shall be unlawful for a re16 seller to sell, offer for sale, or advertise for sale an 

17 event ticket unless the seller has actual or construc18 tive possession of the event ticket. 

19 (2) RULE OF CONSTRUCTION.—Nothing in this 

20 subsection shall be construed to prohibit any person 

21 from offering a service to a consumer to obtain an 

22 event ticket on behalf of the consumer provided that 

23 the person— 

24 (A) does not market or list such service as 

25 an event ticket; 


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1 (B) lists the price for such service sepa2 rately from the total event ticket price paid by 

3 the service provider for the event ticket in any 

4 advertisement, marketing, price list, social 

5 media promotion, or other interface that dis6 plays a price for such service; 

7 (C) maintains a clear, distinct, and easily 

8 discernible separation between such service and 

9 event tickets through unavoidable visual demar10 cation that persists throughout the entire serv11 ice selection and purchasing process; 

12 (D) clearly and conspicuously discloses 

13 prior to selection of the service that such serv14 ice is not an event ticket and that the purchase 

15 of such service does not guarantee a ticket to 

16 such event; 

17 (E) shall not obtain tickets through any 

18 fan club program; 

19 (F) shall not obtain more tickets in each 

20 transaction than the numerical limitations for 

21 tickets set by the venue and artist for each re22 spective event; and 

23 (G) in the event the service is unable to 

24 obtain the specified event ticket purchased 

25 through the service for the consumer, provides 


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1 the consumer that purchased the service, within 

2 a reasonable amount of time— 

3 (i) a full refund for the total cost of 

4 the service to obtain an event ticket on be5 half of the consumer; or 

6 (ii) subject to availability, a replace7 ment event ticket in the same or a com8 parable location with the approval of the 

9 consumer. 

10 (c) REQUIREMENTS FOR THE SALE OF EVENT TICK11 ETS.—It shall be unlawful for any seller to sell or offer 

12 for sale an event ticket in or affecting commerce, unless 

13 the seller does the following: 

14 (1) ALL-IN PRICING.—The seller clearly and 

15 conspicuously— 

16 (A) displays the total event ticket price in 

17 any advertisement, marketing, price list, social 

18 media promotion, or other interface that dis19 plays a price for the event ticket; and 

20 (B) discloses to any individual who seeks 

21 to purchase an event ticket the total event tick22 et price at the time the ticket is first displayed 

23 to the individual and anytime thereafter 

24 throughout the ticket purchasing process, in25 cluding an itemized breakdown of the face value 


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1 of the event ticket and all applicable taxes and 

2 ancillary fees. 

3 (2) TICKET AND REFUND INFORMATION.—The 

4 seller discloses to any individual who seeks to pur5 chase an event ticket— 

6 (A) the space within the venue that the 

7 event ticket would entitle the bearer to occupy 

8 for the event, whether that is general admission 

9 or the specific seat or section, at the initial 

10 point of ticket selection by the purchaser; 

11 (B) the seller’s refund policies and how to 

12 obtain a refund from the seller if— 

13 (i) the purchaser receives an event 

14 ticket that does not match the description 

15 of the ticket provided to the purchaser at 

16 the point of purchase; 

17 (ii) the event is canceled or postponed; 

18 (iii) the event ticket does not or would 

19 not grant the purchaser admission to the 

20 event; 

21 (iv) the event ticket is counterfeit; or 

22 (v) the event ticket was resold in vio23 lation of the terms and conditions estab24 lished by the event organizer or its primary 

25 seller; 


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1 (C) the date and means of delivery by 

2 which the event ticket will be delivered to the 

3 purchaser; 

4 (D) any restrictions on resale of the event 

5 ticket under the terms and conditions of the 

6 event ticket; and 

7 (E) a link to the website created by the 

8 Commission under section 5(d) through which 

9 individuals may report violations of this Act to 

10 the Commission. 

11 (3) DISCLOSURE OF TERMS AND CONDI12 TIONS.—The seller discloses or provides a link to the 

13 full terms and conditions of the event ticket to any 

14 individual who seeks to purchase an event ticket 

15 prior to the point of purchase. 

16 (4) PROOF OF PURCHASE.—If the event ticket 

17 is an electronic ticket, the seller delivers written 

18 proof of purchase to the purchaser as soon as is 

19 practicable and no later than 24 hours following the 

20 purchase of the event ticket, which shall include— 

21 (A) the date and time of the purchase of 

22 the event ticket; 

23 (B) the face value and total purchase price 

24 of the event ticket, including all taxes and ancil25 lary fees; 


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1 (C) the space within the venue that the 

2 event ticket would entitle the bearer to occupy 

3 for the event, whether that is general admission 

4 or the specific seat or section; 

5 (D) the date on which and the means by 

6 which the event ticket will be delivered to the 

7 purchaser; and 

8 (E) any restrictions on resale of the event 

9 ticket under the terms and conditions of the 

10 event ticket. 

11 (5) REFUND REQUIREMENTS.— 

12 (A) IN GENERAL.—In the event of an 

13 event cancellation, a seller shall provide a pur14 chaser of an event ticket from that seller, at the 

15 option of the purchaser, at a minimum a full 

16 refund of the total event ticket price plus any 

17 taxes paid by the purchaser. 

18 (B) EXCEPTION.—Subparagraph (A) shall 

19 not apply where an event is canceled due to a 

20 cause beyond the reasonable control of the 

21 event organizer, including a natural disaster, 

22 civil disturbance, or otherwise unforeseeable im23 pediment. 

24 (d) ADDITIONAL REQUIREMENTS FOR SECONDARY

25 SALES.— 


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1 (1) DISCLOSURES TO ARTIST AND VENUE.— 

2 (A) IN GENERAL.—A secondary ticketing 

3 exchange shall, in connection with each sec4 ondary sale of an event ticket facilitated or exe5 cuted by the exchange, provide at a minimum 

6 the ticket purchaser the option to opt-in by af7 firmative express consent to provide the artist 

8 and venue the purchaser’s name, email address, 

9 and phone number for the sole purposes of— 

10 (i) ensuring the safety and security of 

11 the artist, venue staff or property, event 

12 attendees, or any other individual or prop13 erty associated with the event; or 

14 (ii) allowing the artist or venue to 

15 provide the purchaser with information 

16 about event postponements or cancella17 tions. 

18 (B) PROVISION OF INFORMATION.—If a 

19 purchaser provides the affirmative express con20 sent described in subparagraph (A) to a sec21 ondary ticketing exchange, the exchange shall 

22 provide the information described in such sub23 paragraph to the artist and venue. 

24 (C) PROHIBITION ON UNAUTHORIZED

25 USES.—It shall be unlawful for an artist or 


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1 venue to use information disclosed to the artist 

2 or venue in accordance with this paragraph 

3 from any purpose other than the purposes de4 scribed in clauses (i) and (ii) of subparagraph 

5 (A), including for promotional purposes. 

6 (D) RULE OF CONSTRUCTION.—Nothing in 

7 this paragraph shall be construed to conflict 

8 with or preempt existing data privacy laws. 

9 (2) NOTICE OF SECONDARY SALE.—It shall be 

10 unlawful for a secondary ticketing exchange to— 

11 (A) facilitate or execute the secondary sale 

12 of an event ticket unless the secondary ticketing 

13 exchange clearly and conspicuously discloses— 

14 (i) that it is not the primary seller of 

15 the event ticket at the top of its website, 

16 or at a comparable appropriate place on its 

17 software application or other digital plat18 form, and at the point of purchase; or 

19 (ii) if the secondary ticketing ex20 change also operates as the primary seller 

21 with respect to the event ticket, a notice on 

22 any page or interface that facilitates the 

23 resale of event tickets, that event tickets 

24 available on the page or interface are being 

25 resold; 


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1 (B) receive the exclusive right to use the 

2 artist name, venue name, event organizer name, 

3 graphic, marketing logo, image or other intellec4 tual property of the artist, venue, or event orga5 nizer in promotional materials, social media 

6 promotions, search engine optimization, or in 

7 any marketing agreement between the artist, 

8 venue, or event organizer and the secondary 

9 ticketing exchange, if the secondary ticketing 

10 exchange is owned by, controlled by, or under 

11 common ownership or control with a person 

12 that also operates as a primary seller or event 

13 organizer; or 

14 (C) advertise or represent that it is the 

15 primary seller of an event for which it is not 

16 the primary seller. 

17 (e) GAO STUDIES OF TICKETING MARKET PRAC18 TICES.— 

19 (1) IN GENERAL.—One year after the date of 

20 enactment of this Act, the Comptroller General of 

21 the United States shall release a study on the event 

22 ticket market. 

23 (2) CONTENTS OF STUDY.—The study required 

24 under paragraph (1) shall include— 


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1 (A) an assessment of how professional re2 sellers obtain event tickets that are subse3 quently offered for resale, including whether 

4 those methods violate the BOTS Act (Public 

5 Law 114–274); 

6 (B) an assessment of event ticket brokers 

7 obtaining tickets through fan club, venue pre 

8 sales, or credit card rewards programs; 

9 (C) an assessment of the prevalence of 

10 counterfeit or fraudulently sold event tickets 

11 and whether incidents of counterfeit or fraudu12 lently sold event tickets are reported to law en13 forcement agencies by consumers, venues, sell14 ers, or other entities; 

15 (D) an assessment of the incidence of con16 sumers purchasing event tickets on secondary 

17 ticketing exchanges who are subsequently de18 nied entry to the event for which they pur19 chased event tickets; 

20 (E) an assessment of the percentage of 

21 event tickets to events that are acquired by pro22 fessional resellers for purposes of resale; 

23 (F) an assessment of the average cost of 

24 event tickets in relation to their face value and 

25 total event ticket price; 


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1 (G) an assessment of the average cost of 

2 concert event tickets sold on the secondary mar3 ket in relation to their face value and total 

4 event ticket price; 

5 (H) an assessment of the average cost of 

6 event tickets in relation to their face value, an7 cillary fees and total event ticket price in both 

8 the primary and secondary markets; 

9 (I) an assessment of primary and sec10 ondary exchange market share, including an es11 timate of how many tickets are purchased and 

12 resold on the same platform and average fees 

13 generated in closed-loop ticket resale; 

14 (J) an assessment of the overall size of the 

15 resale market, including percentage of tickets 

16 resold and the total monetary volume of the re17 sale market; 

18 (K) an assessment of consumer use of the 

19 resale market, including how often ordinary 

20 consumers who intended to go to an event had 

21 to resell event tickets and what percentage of 

22 face value their event tickets sold for; 

23 (L) an assessment of the prevalence of ex24 clusive contracts between a primary seller and 

25 any venue or artist, including the effect of such 


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1 exclusive contracts on the market for primary 

2 seller services, taking into account averages for 

3 events of various types (including but not lim4 ited to sports, concerts, fine arts performances) 

5 and venues (including but not limited to sta6 diums, amphitheaters, concert halls, clubs); 

7 (M) an assessment of event ticket alloca8 tion by primary sellers, including the effect of 

9 event ticket allocation on event ticket prices, 

10 taking into account averages for events of var11 ious types (including but not limited to sports, 

12 concerts, fine arts performances) and venues 

13 (including but not limited to stadiums, amphi14 theaters, concert halls, clubs); 

15 (N) an assessment of secondary ticketing 

16 exchanges and event ticket brokers offering 

17 services to a consumer to obtain an event ticket 

18 on behalf of the consumer, including but not 

19 limited to whether the platforms and brokers 

20 are deploying unfair, unethical, or illegal tactics 

21 to acquire such tickets and prevent fans from 

22 accessing them at face value; 

23 (O) an assessment of market manipulation 

24 techniques employed by professional resellers, 

25 including but not limited to ‘‘buy and hold’’ 


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1 strategies where event tickets purchased for re2 sale are not listed for sale to affect secondary 

3 event ticket prices; and 

4 (P) an assessment of the prevalence of ex5 clusive national touring arrangements between 

6 promoters and artists and an assessment of art7 ists represented by managers under shared 

8 ownership with promoters and ticketing compa9 nies, including how often those artists utilize 

10 the services of companies under shared owner11 ship, including ticketing, event organizing, mer12 chandising and venue rental. 

13 SEC. 4. STRENGTHENING THE BOTS ACT. 

14 (a) IN GENERAL.—Section 2 of the Better Online 

15 Ticket Sales Act of 2016 (15 U.S.C. 45c) is amended— 

16 (1) in subsection (a)(1)— 

17 (A) in subparagraph (A), by striking ‘‘; 

18 or’’ and inserting a semicolon; 

19 (B) in subparagraph (B), by striking the 

20 period at the end and inserting ‘‘; or’’; and 

21 (C) by adding at the end the following new 

22 subparagraph: 

23 ‘‘(C) to use or cause to be used an applica24 tion that performs automated tasks to purchase 

25 event tickets from an internet website or online 


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1 service in circumvention of posted online ticket 

2 purchasing order rules of the internet website 

3 or online service, including a software applica4 tion that circumvents an access control system, 

5 security measure, or other technological control 

6 or measure.’’; 

7 (2) by redesignating subsections (b) and (c) as 

8 subsections (c) and (d), respectively; 

9 (3) by inserting after subsection (a) the fol10 lowing new subsection: 

11 ‘‘(b) REQUIRING ONLINE TICKET ISSUERS TO PUT

12 IN PLACE SITE POLICIES AND ESTABLISH SAFEGUARDS

13 TO PROTECT SITE SECURITY.— 

14 ‘‘(1) REQUIREMENT TO ENFORCE SITE POLI15 CIES.—Each ticket issuer that owns or operates an 

16 internet website or online service that facilitates or 

17 executes the sale of event tickets shall ensure that 

18 such website or service has in place an access control 

19 system, security measure, or other technological con20 trol or measure to enforce posted event ticket pur21 chasing limits. 

22 ‘‘(2) REQUIREMENT TO ESTABLISH SITE SECU23 RITY SAFEGUARDS.— 

24 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—Each ticket issuer 

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1 line service that facilitates or executes the sale 

2 of event tickets shall establish, implement, and 

3 maintain reasonable administrative, technical, 

4 and physical safeguards to protect the security, 

5 confidentiality, integrity, or availability of the 

6 website or service. 

7 ‘‘(B) CONSIDERATIONS.—In establishing 

8 the safeguards described in subparagraph (A), 

9 each ticket issuer described in such paragraph 

10 shall consider— 

11 ‘‘(i) the administrative, technical, and 

12 physical safeguards that are appropriate to 

13 the size and complexity of the ticket issuer; 

14 ‘‘(ii) the nature and scope of the ac15 tivities of the ticket issuer; 

16 ‘‘(iii) the sensitivity of any customer 

17 information at issue; and 

18 ‘‘(iv) the range of security risks and 

19 vulnerabilities that are reasonably foresee20 able or known to the ticket issuer. 

21 ‘‘(C) THIRD PARTIES AND SERVICE PRO22 VIDERS.— 

23 ‘‘(i) IN GENERAL.—Where applicable, 

24 a ticket issuer that owns or operates an 

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1 cilitates or executes the sale of event tick2 ets shall implement and maintain proce3 dures to require that any third party or 

4 service provider that performs services with 

5 respect to the sale of event tickets or has 

6 access to data regarding event ticket pur7 chasing on the website or service maintains 

8 reasonable administrative, technical, and 

9 physical safeguards to protect the security 

10 and integrity of the website or service and 

11 that data. 

12 ‘‘(ii) OVERSIGHT PROCEDURE RE13 QUIREMENTS.—The procedures imple14 mented and maintained by a ticket issuer 

15 in accordance with clause (i) shall include 

16 the following: 

17 ‘‘(I) Taking reasonable steps to 

18 select and retain service providers 

19 that are capable of maintaining ap20 propriate safeguards for the customer 

21 information at issue. 

22 ‘‘(II) Requiring service providers 

23 by contract to implement and main24 tain adequate safeguards. 


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1 ‘‘(III) Periodically assessing serv2 ice providers based on the risk they 

3 present and the continued adequacy of 

4 their safeguards. 

5 ‘‘(D) UPDATES.—A ticket issuer that owns 

6 or operates an internet website or online service 

7 that facilitates or executes the sale of event 

8 tickets shall regularly evaluate and make ad9 justments to the safeguards described in sub10 paragraph (A) in light of any material changes 

11 in technology, internal or external threats to 

12 system security, confidentiality, integrity, and 

13 availability, and the changing business arrange14 ments or operations of the ticket issuer. 

15 ‘‘(3) REQUIREMENT TO REPORT INCIDENTS OF

16 CIRCUMVENTION; CONSUMER COMPLAINTS.— 

17 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—A ticket issuer that 

18 owns or operates an internet website or online 

19 service that facilitates or executes the sale of 

20 event tickets shall report to the Commission 

21 any incidents of circumvention of which the 

22 ticket issuer has actual knowledge. 

23 ‘‘(B) CONSUMER COMPLAINT WEBSITE.— 

24 Not later than 180 days after the date of enact25 ment of the Fans First Act, the Commission 


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1 shall create a publicly available website (or 

2 modify an existing publicly available website of 

3 the Commission) to allow individuals to report 

4 violations of this subsection to the Commission. 

5 ‘‘(C) REPORTING TIMELINE AND PROC6 ESS.— 

7 ‘‘(i) TIMELINE.—A ticket issuer shall 

8 report known incidents of circumvention 

9 within a reasonable period of time after 

10 the incident of circumvention is discovered 

11 by the ticket issuer, and in no case later 

12 than 30 days after an incident of cir13 cumvention is discovered by the ticket 

14 issuer. 

15 ‘‘(ii) AUTOMATED SUBMISSION.—The 

16 Commission may establish a reporting 

17 mechanism to provide for the automatic 

18 submission of reports required under this 

19 subsection. 

20 ‘‘(iii) COORDINATION WITH STATE AT21 TORNEYS GENERAL.—The Commission 

22 shall— 

23 ‘‘(I) share reports received from 

24 ticket issuers under subparagraph (A) 


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1 with State attorneys general as appro2 priate; and 

3 ‘‘(II) share consumer complaints 

4 submitted through the website estab5 lished under subparagraph (B) with 

6 State attorneys general as appro7 priate. 

8 ‘‘(4) DUTY TO ADDRESS CAUSES OF CIR9 CUMVENTION.—A ticket issuer that owns or operates 

10 an internet website or online service that facilitates 

11 or executes the sale of event tickets must take rea12 sonable steps to improve its access control systems, 

13 security measures, and other technological controls 

14 or measures to address any incidents of circumven15 tion of which the ticket issuer has actual knowledge. 

16 ‘‘(5) FTC GUIDANCE.—Not later than 1 year 

17 after the date of enactment of the Fans First Act, 

18 the Commission shall publish guidance for ticket 

19 issuers on compliance with the requirements of this 

20 subsection.’’; 

21 (4) in subsection (c), as redesignated by para22 graph (1) of this subsection— 

23 (A) by striking ‘‘subsection (a)’’ each place 

24 it appears and inserting ‘‘subsection (a) or (b)’’; 

25 (B) in paragraph (2)— 


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1 (i) in subparagraph (A), by striking 

2 ‘‘The Commission’’ and inserting ‘‘Except 

3 as provided in paragraph (3), the Commis4 sion’’; and 

5 (ii) in subparagraph (B), by striking 

6 ‘‘Any person’’ and inserting ‘‘Subject to 

7 paragraph (3), any person’’; and 

8 (C) by adding at the end the following new 

9 paragraphs: 

10 ‘‘(3) CIVIL ACTION.— 

11 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—If the Commission has 

12 reason to believe that any person has committed 

13 a violation of subsection (a) or (b), the Commis14 sion may bring a civil action in an appropriate 

15 district court of the United States to— 

16 ‘‘(i) recover a civil penalty under 

17 paragraph (4); and 

18 ‘‘(ii) seek other appropriate relief, in19 cluding injunctive relief and other equi20 table relief. 

21 ‘‘(B) LITIGATION AUTHORITY.—Except as 

22 otherwise provided in section 16(a)(3) of the 

23 Federal Trade Commission Act (15 U.S.C. 

24 56(a)(3)), the Commission shall have exclusive 

25 authority to commence or defend, and supervise 


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1 the litigation of, any civil action authorized 

2 under this paragraph and any appeal of such 

3 action in its own name by any of its attorneys 

4 designated by it for such purpose, unless the 

5 Commission authorizes the Attorney General to 

6 do so. The Commission shall inform the Attor7 ney General of the exercise of such authority 

8 and such exercise shall not preclude the Attor9 ney General from intervening on behalf of the 

10 United States in such action and any appeal of 

11 such action as may be otherwise provided by 

12 law. 

13 ‘‘(C) RULE OF CONSTRUCTION.—Any civil 

14 penalty or relief sought through a civil action 

15 under this paragraph shall be in addition to 

16 other penalties and relief as may be prescribed 

17 by law. 

18 ‘‘(4) CIVIL PENALTIES.— 

19 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—Any person who vio20 lates subsection (a) or (b) shall be liable for— 

21 ‘‘(i) a civil penalty of not less than 

22 $10,000 for each day during which the vio23 lation occurs or continues to occur; and 

24 ‘‘(ii) an additional civil penalty of not 

25 less than $1,000 per violation. 


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1 ‘‘(B) ENHANCED CIVIL PENALTY FOR IN2 TENTIONAL VIOLATIONS.—In addition to the 

3 civil penalties under subparagraph (A), a per4 son that intentionally violates subsection (a) or 

5 (b) shall be liable for a civil penalty of not less 

6 than $10,000 per violation.’’; 

7 (5) in subsection (d), as redesignated by para8 graph (1) of this subsection, by striking ‘‘subsection 

9 (a)’’ each place it appears and inserting ‘‘subsection 

10 (a) or (b)’’; and 

11 (6) by adding at the end the following new sub12 sections: 

13 ‘‘(e) LAW ENFORCEMENT COORDINATION.— 

14 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The Federal Bureau of In15 vestigation, the Department of Justice, and other 

16 relevant State or local law enforcement officials shall 

17 coordinate as appropriate with the Commission to 

18 share information about known instances of 

19 cyberattacks on security measures, access control 

20 systems, or other technological controls or measures 

21 on an internet website or online service that are 

22 used by ticket issuers to enforce posted event ticket 

23 purchasing limits or to maintain the integrity of 

24 posted online ticket purchasing order rules. Such co25 ordination may include providing information about 


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1 ongoing investigations but may exclude classified in2 formation or information that could compromise a 

3 law enforcement or national security effort, as ap4 propriate. 

5 ‘‘(2) CYBERATTACK DEFINED.—In this para6 graph, the term ‘cyberattack’ means an attack, via 

7 cyberspace, targeting an enterprise’s use of cyber8 space for the purpose of— 

9 ‘‘(A) disrupting, disabling, destroying, or 

10 maliciously controlling a computing environ11 ment or computing infrastructure; or 

12 ‘‘(B) destroying the integrity of data or 

13 stealing controlled information. 

14 ‘‘(f) CONGRESSIONAL REPORT.—Not later than 1 

15 year after the date of enactment of this paragraph, the 

16 Commission shall report to Committee on Commerce, 

17 Science, and Transportation of the Senate and the Com18 mittee on Energy and Commerce of the House of Rep19 resentatives on the status of enforcement actions taken 

20 pursuant to this Act, as well as any identified limitations 

21 to the Commission’s ability to pursue incidents of cir22 cumvention described in subsection (a)(1)(A).’’. 

23 (b) ADDITIONAL DEFINITION.—Section 3 of the Bet24 ter Online Ticket Sales Act of 2016 (15 U.S.C. 45c note) 


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1 is amended by adding at the end the following new para2 graph: 

3 ‘‘(4) CIRCUMVENTION.—The term ‘circumven4 tion’ means the act of avoiding, bypassing, removing, 

5 deactivating, or otherwise impairing an access con6 trol system, security measure, safeguard, or other 

7 technological control or measure described in section 

8 2(b)(1).’’. 

9 SEC. 5. ENFORCEMENT BY THE COMMISSION. 

10 (a) FTC ACT VIOLATION.—Any person who violates 

11 section 3 of this Act shall be liable for engaging in an 

12 unfair or deceptive act or practice under section 5(a)(1) 

13 of the Federal Trade Commission Act (15 U.S.C. 

14 45(a)(1)). 

15 (b) CIVIL ACTION.—If the Commission has reason to 

16 believe that any person has violated section 3 of this Act, 

17 the Commission may bring a civil action in an appropriate 

18 district court of the United States to— 

19 (1) recover a civil penalty under subsection (c); 

20 and 

21 (2) seek other appropriate relief, including in22 junctive relief. 

23 (c) CIVIL PENALTY.— 

24 (1) IN GENERAL.—Any person who violates sec25 tion 3 of this Act shall be liable for— 


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1 (A) a civil penalty of at least $15,000 for 

2 each day during which the violation occurs or 

3 continues to occur; and 

4 (B) an additional civil penalty equal to the 

5 greater of— 

6 (i) $1,000 per event ticket advertised, 

7 listed, sold, or resold in violation of this 

8 Act; or 

9 (ii) an amount equal to the sum of the 

10 total event ticket prices for each event tick11 et listed or sold in violation of this Act, 

12 multiplied by 5. 

13 (2) ENHANCED CIVIL PENALTY FOR INTEN14 TIONAL VIOLATIONS.—In addition to the civil pen15 alty under paragraph (1), a person that intentionally 

16 violates section 3 of this Act shall be liable for a civil 

17 penalty of at least $10,000 per event ticket sold or 

18 resold in violation of this Act. 

19 (d) COMPLAINT WEBSITE.— 

20 (1) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 180 days 

21 after the date of enactment of this Act, the Commis22 sion shall create a publicly available website where 

23 individuals may report violations of this Act. 

24 (2) COOPERATION WITH STATE AGS.—As ap25 propriate, the Commission shall share reports reVerDate Sep 11 2014 03:32 Dec 22, 2023 Jkt 049200 PO 00000 Frm 00033 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S3457.IS S3457

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1 ceived through the website created under paragraph 

2 (1) with State attorneys general. 

3 (e) FTC REPORT.—The Commission shall report an4 nually to Congress on enforcement metrics, activity, and 

5 effectiveness under this Act. 

6 SEC. 6. ENFORCEMENT BY STATES. 

7 (a) IN GENERAL.—In any case in which the attorney 

8 general of a State has reason to believe that an interest 

9 of the residents of the State has been or is threatened 

10 or adversely affected by the engagement of any person in 

11 a practice that violates section 3 of this Act, the attorney 

12 general of the State may, as parens patriae, bring a civil 

13 action on behalf of the residents of the State in an appro14 priate district court of the United States— 

15 (1) to enjoin further violation of such provision 

16 by such person; 

17 (2) to compel compliance with such provision; 

18 and 

19 (3) to obtain damages, restitution, or other 

20 compensation on behalf of such residents. 

21 (b) INVESTIGATORY POWERS.—Nothing in this sec22 tion may be construed to prevent the attorney general of 

23 a State from exercising the powers conferred on the attor24 ney general by the laws of the State to conduct investiga25 tions, to administer oaths or affirmations, or to compel 


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1 the attendance of witnesses or the production of documen2 tary or other evidence. 

3 (c) VENUE; SERVICE OF PROCESS.— 

4 (1) VENUE.—Any action brought under sub5 section (a) may be brought in— 

6 (A) the district court of the United States 

7 that meets applicable requirements relating to 

8 venue under section 1391 of title 28, United 

9 States Code; or 

10 (B) another court of competent jurisdic11 tion. 

12 (2) SERVICE OF PROCESS.—In an action 

13 brought under subsection (a), process may be served 

14 in any district in which the defendant— 

15 (A) is an inhabitant; or 

16 (B) may be found. 

17 (d) ACTIONS BY OTHER STATE OFFICIALS.— 

18 (1) IN GENERAL.—In addition to civil actions 

19 brought by attorneys general under subsection (a), 

20 any other consumer protection officer of a State who 

21 is authorized by the State to do so may bring a civil 

22 action under subsection (a), subject to the same re23 quirements and limitations that apply under this 

24 subsection to civil actions brought by attorneys gen25 eral. 


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1 (2) SAVINGS PROVISION.—Nothing in this sec2 tion may be construed to prohibit an authorized offi3 cial of a State from initiating or continuing any pro4 ceeding in a court of the State for a violation of any 

5 civil or criminal law of the State. 

6 SEC. 7. SEVERABILITY. 

7 If any provision of this Act, or the application of such 

8 provision to any person or circumstance is held to be un9 constitutional, the remainder of this Act and of the 

10 amendments made by this Act, and the application of the 

11 remaining provisions of this Act and amendments to any 

12 person or circumstance, shall not be affected. 

Æ 


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