The FanFair Alliance has welcomed a motion passed in the US to ban bots - ticketing software used by touts to harvest tickets for resale in the secondary market.
President Obama signed into law the Better Online Ticket Sales (BOTS) Act of 2016 to "prohibit the circumvention of control measures used by internet ticket sellers to ensure equitable consumer access to tickets for certain events".
The development could be an important signpost for the campaign to ban bots in the UK, according to the FanFair Alliance. Culture minister Matt Hancock recently said he has been "persuaded" of the need for action over bots.
"This is welcome news. If the US BOTS Act is enforceable we hope it can help guide UK lawmakers as they look to tackle the exact same issues," said a spokesman for the group.
"However, one note of caution. This legislation was also supported by companies who run secondary ticketing services, and who benefit directly from mass-scale ticket touting. That in itself highlights why, in the UK, further measures than simply outlawing the misuse of bots will be needed to properly clean up ticket resale - and why we urgently need UK Government to enforce existing consumer law and enact recommendations made in Professor Michael Waterson's review of secondary ticketing."
