IIB 

114TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION H. R. 5104 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

SEPTEMBER 13, 2016 

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

and Transportation 

AN ACT 

To prohibit, as an unfair and deceptive act or practice in 

commerce, the sale or use of certain software to circumvent control measures used by Internet ticket sellers 

to ensure equitable consumer access to tickets for any 

given event, 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, 


sradovich on DSK3GMQ082PROD with BILLS
2 

HR 5104 RFS

1 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

2 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Better On-line Ticket 

3 Sales Act of 2016’’ or the ‘‘BOTS Act’’. 

4 SEC. 2. UNFAIR AND DECEPTIVE ACTS AND PRACTICES RE5 LATING TO USE OF TICKET ACCESS CIR6 CUMVENTION SOFTWARE. 

7 (a) SALE OF SOFTWARE.—It shall be unlawful for 

8 any person to sell or offer to sell, in commerce, any com9 puter software, or part thereof, that— 

10 (1) is primarily designed or produced for the 

11 purpose of circumventing a technological measure 

12 that limits purchases made via a computerized event 

13 ticketing system; 

14 (2) has only limited commercially significant 

15 purpose or use other than to circumvent a techno16 logical measure that limits purchases made via a 

17 computerized event ticketing system; or 

18 (3) is marketed by that person for use in cir19 cumventing a technological measure that limits pur20 chases made via a computerized event ticketing sys21 tem. 

22 (b) USE OF SOFTWARE.—It shall be unlawful for any 

23 person to use any computer software, or part thereof, de24 scribed in subsection (a) of this section, to purchase an 

25 event ticket via a computerized event ticketing system in 

26 violation of the system operator’s posted limits on the seVerDate Sep 11 2014 22:48 Sep 13, 2016 Jkt 059200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H5104.RFS H5104

sradovich on DSK3GMQ082PROD with BILLS
3 

HR 5104 RFS

1 quence or number of transactions, frequency of trans2 actions, or quantity of tickets purchased by a single user 

3 of the system, or on the geographic location of any trans4 actions. 

5 (c) RESALE OF TICKETS.—It shall be unlawful for 

6 any person to engage in the practice of reselling in com7 merce, event tickets acquired in violation of subsection (b) 

8 of this section if the person either— 

9 (1) participated directly in or had the ability to 

10 control the conduct in violation of subsection (b); or 

11 (2) knew or should have known that the event 

12 tickets were acquired in violation of subsection (b). 

13 (d) DEFINITIONS.—As used in this section— 

14 (1) the term ‘‘computerized event ticketing sys15 tem’’ means a system of selling event tickets, in 

16 commerce, via an online interactive computer system 

17 that effectively limits the sequence or number of 

18 ticket purchase transactions, frequency of ticket pur19 chase transactions, quantity of tickets purchased, or 

20 geographic location of any ticket purchase trans21 actions; 

22 (2) the term ‘‘event ticket’’ means a ticket enti23 tling one or more individuals to attend, in person, 

24 one or more events to occur on specific dates, times, 

25 and geographic locations; and 


sradovich on DSK3GMQ082PROD with BILLS
4 

HR 5104 RFS

1 (3) to ‘‘circumvent a technological measure’’ 

2 means to avoid, bypass, remove, deactivate, or im3 pair a technological measure, without the authority 

4 of the computerized event ticketing system operator. 

5 (e) RULE OF CONSTRUCTION.—Notwithstanding the 

6 prohibitions set forth in subsections (a) and (b), it shall 

7 not be unlawful under this section to create or use any 

8 computer software, or part thereof, to— 

9 (1) investigate or further the enforcement or 

10 defense of any alleged violation of this section; or 

11 (2) engage in research necessary to identify and 

12 analyze flaws and vulnerabilities of a computerized 

13 event ticketing system, if these research activities 

14 are conducted to advance the state of knowledge in 

15 the field of computer system security or to assist in 

16 the development of computer security products. 

17 (f) ENFORCEMENT BY THE FEDERAL TRADE COM18 MISSION.—A violation of subsection (a), (b), or (c) shall 

19 be treated as an unfair and deceptive act or practice in 

20 violation of a regulation issued under section 18(a)(1)(B) 

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

22 57a(a)(1)(B)). 

23 (g) ENFORCEMENT BY STATES.— 

24 (1) AUTHORIZATION.—Subject to paragraph 

25 (2), in any case in which the attorney general of a 


sradovich on DSK3GMQ082PROD with BILLS
5 

HR 5104 RFS

1 State has reason to believe that an interest of the 

2 residents of the State has been or is threatened or 

3 adversely affected by a violation of subsection (a), 

4 (b), or (c), the attorney general of the State may, 

5 as parens patriae, bring a civil action on behalf of 

6 the residents of the State in an appropriate district 

7 court of the United States to obtain appropriate re8 lief. 

9 (2) RIGHTS OF FEDERAL TRADE COMMIS10 SION.— 

11 (A) NOTICE TO FTC.— 

12 (i) IN GENERAL.—Except as provided 

13 in clause (iii), the attorney general of a 

14 State shall notify the Federal Trade Com15 mission in writing that the attorney gen16 eral intends to bring a civil action under 

17 paragraph (1) before initiating the civil ac18 tion against a person for a violation of 

19 subsection (a), (b), or (c). 

20 (ii) CONTENTS.—The notification re21 quired by clause (i) with respect to a civil 

22 action shall include a copy of the complaint 

23 to be filed to initiate the civil action. 

24 (iii) EXCEPTION.—If it is not feasible 

25 for the attorney general of a State to proVerDate Sep 11 2014 22:48 Sep 13, 2016 Jkt 059200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H5104.RFS H5104

sradovich on DSK3GMQ082PROD with BILLS
6 

HR 5104 RFS

1 vide the notification required by clause (i) 

2 before initiating a civil action under para3 graph (1), the attorney general shall notify 

4 the Commission immediately upon insti5 tuting the civil action. 

6 (B) INTERVENTION BY THE FTC.—The 

7 Federal Trade Commission may— 

8 (i) intervene in any civil action 

9 brought by the attorney general of a State 

10 under paragraph (1); and 

11 (ii) upon intervening, be heard on all 

12 matters arising in the civil action, and file 

13 petitions for appeal of a decision in the 

14 civil action. 

15 (3) PENDING ACTION BY THE FEDERAL TRADE

16 COMMISSION.—If the Federal Trade Commission in17 stitutes a civil action or an administrative action 

18 with respect to a violation of subsection (a), (b), or 

19 (c), the attorney general of a State may not, during 

20 the pendency of such action, bring a civil action 

21 under paragraph (1) against any defendant named 

22 in the complaint of the Commission for the violation 


sradovich on DSK3GMQ082PROD with BILLS
7 

HR 5104 RFS

1 with respect to which the Commission instituted 

2 such action. 

Passed the House of Representatives September 12, 

2016. 

Attest: KAREN L. HAAS, 

Clerk. 


sradovich on DSK3GMQ082PROD with BILLS