I 

118TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 6568 

To prohibit speculative ticketing as an unfair or deceptive act or practice, 

and for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

DECEMBER 4, 2023 

Mr. ARMSTRONG (for himself, Ms. SCHAKOWSKY, and Mr. BILIRAKIS) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Energy 

and Commerce 

A BILL 

To prohibit speculative ticketing as an unfair or deceptive 

act or practice, and for other purposes. 

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. 

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Speculative Ticketing 

5 Oversight and Prohibition Act’’ or the ‘‘STOP Act of 

6 2023’’. 

7 SEC. 2. SPECULATIVE TICKETING BAN. 

8 (a) PROHIBITION.—Beginning 180 days after the 

9 date of the enactment of this Act, a ticket issuer, sec10 ondary market ticket issuer, or secondary market ticket 


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1 exchange that does not have actual or constructive posses2 sion of an event ticket shall not sell, offer for sale, or ad3 vertise for sale of such event ticket. 

4 (b) RULE OF CONSTRUCTION.—Nothing in this sec5 tion shall be construed to prohibit a secondary market 

6 ticket issuer or secondary market ticket exchange from of7 fering a service to a consumer to obtain an event ticket 

8 on behalf of the consumer if the secondary market ticket 

9 issuer or secondary market ticket exchange complies with 

10 the following: 

11 (1) Does not market or list the service as an 

12 event ticket. 

13 (2) Maintains a clear, distinct, and easily dis14 cernible separation between the service and event 

15 tickets through unavoidable visual demarcation that 

16 persists throughout the entire service selection and 

17 purchasing process. 

18 (3) Clearly and conspicuously discloses before 

19 selection of the service that the service is not an 

20 event ticket and that the purchase of the service 

21 does not guarantee an event ticket. 

22 (4) In the event the service is unable to obtain 

23 the specified event ticket purchased through the 

24 service for the consumer, provides the consumer that 


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1 purchased the service, within a reasonable amount of 

2 time— 

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

4 service to obtain an event ticket on behalf of 

5 the consumer; or 

6 (B) subject to availability, a replacement 

7 event ticket in the same or a comparable loca8 tion with the approval of the consumer. 

9 (5) Does not obtain more tickets in each trans10 action than the numerical limitations for tickets set 

11 by the venue and artist for each respective event. 

12 SEC. 3. DECEPTIVE WEBSITES. 

13 A ticket issuer, secondary market ticket issuer, or 

14 secondary market ticket exchange— 

15 (1) shall provide a clear and conspicuous state16 ment, before a visitor purchases an event ticket from 

17 the ticket issuer, secondary market ticket issuer, or 

18 secondary market ticket exchange that the issuer or 

19 exchange is engaged in the secondary sale of event 

20 tickets; 

21 (2) shall not state that the ticket issuer, sec22 ondary market ticket issuer, or secondary market 

23 ticket exchange is affiliated with or endorsed by a 

24 venue, team, or artist, as applicable, unless a part25 nership agreement has been executed, including by 


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1 using words like ‘‘official’’ in promotional materials, 

2 social media promotions, search engine optimization, 

3 paid advertising, or search engine monetization un4 less the issuer or exchange has the express written 

5 consent of the venue, team, or artist, as applicable; 

6 and 

7 (3) shall not use a domain name, or any sub8 domain thereof, in the URL of the ticket issuer, sec9 ondary market ticket issuer, or secondary market 

10 ticket exchange that contains— 

11 (A) the name of a specific team, league, or 

12 venue where concerts, sports, or other live en13 tertainment events are held, unless authorized 

14 by the owner of the name; 

15 (B) the name of the exhibition or perform16 ance or of another event described in subpara17 graph (A), including the name of a person, 

18 team, performance, group, or entity scheduled 

19 to perform at any such venue or event, unless 

20 authorized by the owner of the name; 

21 (C) any trademark or copyright not owned 

22 by the ticket issuer, secondary market ticket 

23 issuer, or secondary market ticket exchange, in24 cluding any trademark or copyright owned by 

25 an authorized agent or partner of the venue or 


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1 event identified in subparagraphs (A) and (B); 

2 or 

3 (D) any name substantially similar to 

4 those described in subparagraphs (A) and (B), 

5 including any misspelling of any such name. 

6 SEC. 4. REFUND REQUIREMENTS. 

7 (a) CANCELLATION.—Beginning 180 days after the 

8 date of the enactment of this Act, if an event is canceled 

9 or postponed (except for a case in which an event is can10 celed due to a cause beyond the reasonable control of the 

11 ticket issuer, including a natural disaster, civil disturb12 ance, or otherwise unforeseeable impediment), a ticket 

13 issuer, secondary market ticket issuer, or secondary mar14 ket ticket exchange shall provide the consumer, at the op15 tion of the purchaser, at a minimum— 

16 (1) a full refund for the total cost of the event 

17 ticket, any event ticket fee, and any tax; or 

18 (2) subject to availability, if the event is post19 poned, a replacement event ticket, in the same or a 

20 comparable location, once the event has been re21 scheduled, with the approval of the consumer. 

22 (b) DISCLOSURE OF GUARANTEE AND REFUND POL23 ICY REQUIRED.—Beginning 180 days after the date of the 

24 enactment of this Act, a ticket issuer, secondary market 

25 ticket issuer, or secondary market ticket exchange shall 


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1 disclose clearly and conspicuously before the completion 

2 of an event ticket sale the guarantee or refund policy of 

3 such ticket issuer, secondary market ticket issuer, or sec4 ondary market ticket exchange, including under what cir5 cumstances any refund issued will include a refund of any 

6 event ticket fee and any tax. 

7 (c) DISCLOSURE OF HOW TO OBTAIN A REFUND RE8 QUIRED.—Beginning 180 days after the date of the enact9 ment of this Act, a ticket issuer, secondary market ticket 

10 issuer, or secondary market ticket exchange shall provide 

11 a clear and conspicuous explanation of how to obtain a 

12 refund of the total cost of the ticket, any event ticket fee, 

13 and any tax. 

14 SEC. 5. REPORT BY THE FEDERAL TRADE COMMISSION ON 

15 BOTS ACT OF 2016 ENFORCEMENT. 

16 Not later than 6 months after the date of the enact17 ment of this Act, the Commission shall submit to Congress 

18 a report on enforcement of the Better Online Ticket Sales 

19 Act of 2016 (Public Law 114–274; 15 U.S.C. 45c), includ20 ing any enforcement action taken, challenges with enforce21 ment and coordination with State Attorneys General, and 

22 recommendations on how to improve enforcement and in23 dustry compliance. 


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1 SEC. 6. ENFORCEMENT BY THE FEDERAL TRADE COMMIS2 SION. 

3 (a) UNFAIR OR DECEPTIVE ACT OR PRACTICE.—A 

4 violation of this Act shall be treated as a violation of a 

5 regulation defining an unfair or deceptive act or practice 

6 under section 18(a)(1)(B) of the Federal Trade Commis7 sion Act (15 U.S.C. 57a(a)(1)(B)). 

8 (b) POWERS OF COMMISSION.—The Commission 

9 shall enforce this Act in the same manner, by the same 

10 means, and with the same jurisdiction, powers, and duties 

11 as though all applicable terms and provisions of the Fed12 eral Trade Commission Act (15 U.S.C. 41 et seq.) were 

13 incorporated into and made a part of this Act. 

14 (c) PRIVILEGES AND IMMUNITIES.—Any person who 

15 violates this Act shall be subject to the penalties and enti16 tled to the privileges and immunities provided in the Fed17 eral Trade Commission Act (15 U.S.C. 41 et seq.). 

18 (d) AUTHORITY PRESERVED.—Nothing in this Act 

19 shall be construed to limit the authority of the Commission 

20 under any other provision of law. 

21 SEC. 7. DEFINITIONS. 

22 In this Act: 

23 (1) ARTIST.—The term ‘‘artist’’ means any per24 former, musician, comedian, producer, ensemble or 

25 production entity of a theatrical production, sports 

26 team owner, or similar person. 


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1 (2) COMMISSION.—The term ‘‘Commission’’ 

2 means the Federal Trade Commission. 

3 (3) DOMAIN NAME.—The term ‘‘domain name’’ 

4 means a globally unique, hierarchical reference to an 

5 internet host or service, which is assigned through 

6 centralized internet naming authorities, and which is 

7 comprised of a series of character strings separated 

8 by periods, with the right most string specifying the 

9 top of the hierarchy. 

10 (4) EVENT; EVENT TICKET; TICKET ISSUER.— 

11 The terms ‘‘event’’, ‘‘event ticket’’, and ‘‘ticket 

12 issuer’’ have the meaning given those terms in the 

13 Better Online Ticket Sales Act of 2016 (Public Law 

14 114–274). 

15 (5) EVENT TICKET FEE.—The term ‘‘event 

16 ticket fee’’— 

17 (A) means a charge that must be paid in 

18 addition to the base event ticket price in order 

19 to obtain an event ticket from a ticket issuer, 

20 secondary market ticket issuer, or secondary 

21 market ticket exchange including any service 

22 fee, charge and order processing fee, delivery 

23 fee, facility charge fee, and any other charge; 

24 and 


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1 (B) does not include any charge or fee for 

2 an optional product or service associated with 

3 the event that may be selected by a purchaser 

4 of an event ticket. 

5 (6) OPTIONAL PRODUCT OR SERVICE.—The 

6 term ‘‘optional product or service’’ means a product 

7 or service that an individual does not need to pur8 chase to use or take possession of an event ticket. 

9 (7) RESALE; SECONDARY SALE.—The terms 

10 ‘‘resale’’ and ‘‘secondary sale’’ mean any sale of an 

11 event ticket that occurs after the initial sale of the 

12 event ticket by a ticket issuer. 

13 (8) SECONDARY MARKET TICKET EXCHANGE.— 

14 The term ‘‘secondary market ticket exchange’’ 

15 means any person that operates a platform or ex16 change for advertising, listing, or selling resale tick17 ets, on behalf of itself, vendors, or a secondary mar18 ket ticket issuer. 

19 (9) SECONDARY MARKET TICKET ISSUER.—The 

20 term ‘‘secondary market ticket issuer’’ means any 

21 person, including a ticket issuer, that resells or 

22 makes a secondary sale of an event ticket to the gen23 eral public in the regular course of the trade or busi24 ness of the person. 


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1 (10) URL.—The term ‘‘URL’’ means the uni2 form resource locator associated with an internet 

3 website. 

4 (11) VENUE.—The term ‘‘venue’’ means a 

5 physical space at which an event takes place. 

Æ 


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