IB 
Union Calendar No. 569 
114TH CONGRESS 
2D SESSION 
H. R. 5104 
[Report No. 114–733] 
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. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
APRIL 28, 2016 
Mrs. BLACKBURN (for herself, Mr. TONKO, Mr. BURGESS, Mr. ISRAEL, Mr. 
TIBERI, Mr. COHEN, Mr. DESJARLAIS, Mr. COOPER, Mr. BYRNE, Mr. 
NADLER, Mr. BISHOP of Michigan, Mr. COSTELLO of Pennsylvania, Ms. 
JENKINS of Kansas, Mr. HARPER, Mr. ROSS, and Mr. CA´RDENAS) intro-
duced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Energy 
and Commerce 
SEPTEMBER 9, 2016 
Additional sponsors: Mr. MCNERNEY, Mr. HUFFMAN, and Mrs. CAROLYN B. 
MALONEY of New York 
SEPTEMBER 9, 2016 
Reported with an amendment, committed to the Committee of the Whole 
House on the State of the Union, and ordered to be printed 
[Strike out all after the enacting clause and insert the part printed in italic] 
[For text of introduced bill, see copy of bill as introduced on April 28, 2016] 
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A BILL 
To prohibit, as an unfair and deceptive act or practice in 
commerce, the sale or use of certain software to cir-
cumvent control measures used by Internet ticket sellers 
to ensure equitable consumer access to tickets for any 
given event, and for other purposes. 
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Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-
tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 
This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Better On-line Ticket 
Sales Act of 2016’’ or the ‘‘BOTS Act’’. 
SEC. 2. UNFAIR AND DECEPTIVE ACTS AND PRACTICES RE-
LATING TO USE OF TICKET ACCESS CIR-
CUMVENTION SOFTWARE. 
(a) SALE OF SOFTWARE.—It shall be unlawful for any 
person to sell or offer to sell, in commerce, any computer 
software, or part thereof, that— 
(1) is primarily designed or produced for the 
purpose of circumventing a technological measure 
that limits purchases made via a computerized event 
ticketing system; 
(2) has only limited commercially significant 
purpose or use other than to circumvent a techno-
logical measure that limits purchases made via a 
computerized event ticketing system; or 
(3) is marketed by that person for use in circum-
venting a technological measure that limits purchases 
made via a computerized event ticketing system. 
(b) USE OF SOFTWARE.—It shall be unlawful for any 
person to use any computer software, or part thereof, de-
scribed in subsection (a) of this section, to purchase an 
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event ticket via a computerized event ticketing system in 
violation of the system operator’s posted limits on the se-
quence or number of transactions, frequency of transactions, 
or quantity of tickets purchased by a single user of the sys-
tem, or on the geographic location of any transactions. 
(c) RESALE OF TICKETS.—It shall be unlawful for any 
person to engage in the practice of reselling in commerce, 
event tickets acquired in violation of subsection (b) of this 
section if the person either— 
(1) participated directly in or had the ability to 
control the conduct in violation of subsection (b); or 
(2) knew or should have known that the event 
tickets were acquired in violation of subsection (b). 
(d) DEFINITIONS.—As used in this section— 
(1) the term ‘‘computerized event ticketing sys-
tem’’ means a system of selling event tickets, in com-
merce, via an online interactive computer system that 
effectively limits the sequence or number of ticket pur-
chase transactions, frequency of ticket purchase trans-
actions, quantity of tickets purchased, or geographic 
location of any ticket purchase transactions; 
(2) the term ‘‘event ticket’’ means a ticket enti-
tling one or more individuals to attend, in person, 
one or more events to occur on specific dates, times, 
and geographic locations; and 
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(3) to ‘‘circumvent a technological measure’’ 
means to avoid, bypass, remove, deactivate, or impair 
a technological measure, without the authority of the 
computerized event ticketing system operator. 
(e) RULE OF CONSTRUCTION.—Notwithstanding the 
prohibitions set forth in subsections (a) and (b), it shall 
not be unlawful under this section to create or use any com-
puter software, or part thereof, to— 
(1) investigate or further the enforcement or de-
fense of any alleged violation of this section; or 
(2) engage in research necessary to identify and 
analyze flaws and vulnerabilities of a computerized 
event ticketing system, if these research activities are 
conducted to advance the state of knowledge in the 
field of computer system security or to assist in the 
development of computer security products. 
(f) ENFORCEMENT BY THE FEDERAL TRADE COMMIS-
SION.—A violation of subsection (a), (b), or (c) shall be 
treated as an unfair and deceptive act or practice in viola-
tion of a regulation issued under section 18(a)(1)(B) of the 
Federal Trade Commission Act (15 U.S.C. 57a(a)(1)(B)). 
(g) ENFORCEMENT BY STATES.— 
(1) AUTHORIZATION.—Subject to paragraph (2), 
in any case in which the attorney general of a State 
has reason to believe that an interest of the residents 
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of the State has been or is threatened or adversely af-
fected by a violation of subsection (a), (b), or (c), the 
attorney general of the State may, as parens patriae, 
bring a civil action on behalf of the residents of the 
State in an appropriate district court of the United 
States to obtain appropriate relief. 
(2) RIGHTS OF FEDERAL TRADE COMMISSION.— 
(A) NOTICE TO FTC.— 
(i) IN GENERAL.—Except as provided 
in clause (iii), the attorney general of a 
State shall notify the Federal Trade Com-
mission in writing that the attorney general 
intends to bring a civil action under para-
graph (1) before initiating the civil action 
against a person for a violation of sub-
section (a), (b), or (c). 
(ii) CONTENTS.—The notification re-
quired by clause (i) with respect to a civil 
action shall include a copy of the complaint 
to be filed to initiate the civil action. 
(iii) EXCEPTION.—If it is not feasible 
for the attorney general of a State to pro-
vide the notification required by clause (i) 
before initiating a civil action under para-
graph (1), the attorney general shall notify 
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the Commission immediately upon insti-
tuting the civil action. 
(B) INTERVENTION BY THE FTC.—The Fed-
eral Trade Commission may— 
(i) intervene in any civil action 
brought by the attorney general of a State 
under paragraph (1); and 
(ii) upon intervening, be heard on all 
matters arising in the civil action, and file 
petitions for appeal of a decision in the 
civil action. 
(3) PENDING ACTION BY THE FEDERAL TRADE 
COMMISSION.—If the Federal Trade Commission in-
stitutes a civil action or an administrative action 
with respect to a violation of subsection (a), (b), or 
(c), the attorney general of a State may not, during 
the pendency of such action, bring a civil action 
under paragraph (1) against any defendant named in 
the complaint of the Commission for the violation 
with respect to which the Commission instituted such 
action. 
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Union Calendar No. 569 
114TH CONGRESS 
2D SESSION 
H. R. 5104 
[Report No. 114–733] 
A BILL 
To prohibit, as an unfair and deceptive act or prac-
tice in commerce, the sale or use of certain soft-
ware to circumvent control measures used by 
Internet ticket sellers to ensure equitable con-
sumer access to tickets for any given event, and 
for other purposes. 
SEPTEMBER 9, 2016 
Reported with an amendment, committed to the Com-
mittee of the Whole House on the State of the Union, 
and ordered to be printed 
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