US anti-scalper law bans ticket-buying software

President Obama signs into a law the Better Online Ticket Sales Act of 2016. Maybe now we can get tickets to "Hamilton."

Joshua Goldman Managing Editor / Advice

Managing Editor Josh Goldman is a laptop expert and has been writing about and reviewing them since built-in Wi-Fi was an optional feature. He also covers almost anything connected to a PC, including keyboards, mice, USB-C docks and PC gaming accessories. In addition, he writes about cameras, including action cams and drones. And while he doesn't consider himself a gamer, he spends entirely too much time playing them.

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More than two decades experience writing about PCs and accessories, and 15 years writing about cameras of all kinds.

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Joshua Goldman

Dec. 16, 2016 8:10 a.m. PT

Scalping methods have a come a long way since the days of paper tickets.
Ricky Carioti/The Washington Post via Getty Images

You may soon find it a lot easier to get tickets to events at face value.

President Obama has signed into law the Better Online Ticket Sales Act of 2016, or BOTS Act, "which prohibits the circumvention of control measures used by internet ticket sellers to ensure equitable consumer access to tickets for certain events," the White House said Thursday in a statement.

Ticket-buying bot software is used by scalpers to automatically purchase large numbers of tickets to popular events so quickly that consumers never have a chance. Scalpers then resell the tickets on third-party sites like StubHub at much higher prices.

The law stops the unauthorized use of bots and the sale of tickets purchased by bots. In November, New York made it a crime to use ticket bots.