FTC BETTER ONLINE TICKET SALES ACT (BOTS ACT) Lawyer + BOTS ACT Investigation defense Attorney
Premier FTC Better Online Ticket Sales Act (BOTS Act) lawyer + BOTS Act CID investigation and defense attorney representing software developers and distributors, ticket resellers and ticket brokers with BOTS Act legal regulatory compliance issues. Legal representation for recipeints of an FTC civil investigative demand, a state attorney general subpoena or other regulatory inquiries related to the Better Online Ticket Sales Act.
FTC Better Online Ticket Sales Act attorney Richard B. Newman assists software developers and distributors, and ticket resesllers and brokers to comply with the BOTS Act. As an authority on the BOTS Act and the FTC Act, related compliance considerations, and state and federal investigations and lawsuits, Mr. Newman is able to identify and minimize potential areas of BOTS Act liability exposure, and defend state and federal agency actions to achieve optimal results.
Better Online Ticket Sales Act ("BOTS Act") Lawyer
Enacted in 2016, the BOTS Act aims to prevent ticket brokers from buying large numbers of event tickets and reselling them to interested customers at inflated prices. To achieve that goal, the BOTS Act prohibits a person from circumventing access controls or measures used by online ticket sellers to enforce ticket-purchasing limits. It also prevents the resale of tickets obtained by knowingly circumventing access controls.
Specifically, the Better Online Ticket Sales Act prohibits the circumvention of a security measure, access control system, or other technological control measure used online by a ticket issuer. The BOTS Act also prohibits selling or offering to sell an event ticket obtained through such a circumvention violation if the seller participated in, had the ability to control, or should have known about the violation. The Bots Act applies to event tickets for public concerts, theater performances, sporting events, and similar activities at venues with seating capacity of over 200.
The BOTS Act bestows upon the Federal Trade Commission with the ability to seek monetary penalties intended to ensure that consumers possess equitable access to tickets. Violating the BOTS Act can lead to investigation and enforcement. The BOTS Act also aims to protect consumers from price gouging on the secondary market. How a ticket reseller or broker does it is not necessary as important as whether there is an act of circumventing “a security measure, access control system, or other technological control or measure . . . the ticket seller has put in place” that violates the BOTS Act.
The BOTS Act does not specifically require a technological solution to circumvent purchase limits, rather, it prohibits any means of bypassing such limits. For example, ticket purchasers that evade ticket limits by using fictitious identities, multiple credit cards or multiple spoofed IP addresses on the same device may be in violation of the BOTS Act, even if they do not use ticket bots.
Additionally, the BOTS Act also addresses more than just using bots to circumvent sellers’ security systems. The BOTS Act makes it illegal to sell tickets obtained in violation of the statute if the seller participated in the illegal purchase or knew or should have known the tickets were acquired in violation of the law
An experienced BOTS Act compliance and defense lawyer can assist software developers and distributors, ticket resellers and ticket brokers minimize potential corporate and individual liability exposure. Importantly, FTC BOTS Act counsel and State Attorneys General share enforcement authority under the BOTS Act.
Contact an FTC BOTS Act attorney and BOTS Act investigation defense lawyer that concentrates on FTC compliance and defense matters, including BOTS Act-related legal regulatory matters to discuss your rights and obligations.
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)
What Kinds of Tactics Utilized to Bypass Security Measures Might Subject a Ticket Reseller to Regulatory Scrutiny?
The FTC may be particularly interested in operations that use a variety of tactics to bypass security measures implemented by a ticket seller to resellers from violating ticket purchasing limits, such as monitoring whether purchases are associated with verifiable Ticketmaster accounts and unique credit cards and IP addresses, or requiring purchasers to enter a code sent to their cell phone to verify their accounts. Such protection bypass tactics may include, without limitation, using numerous Ticketmaster accounts to purchase tickets, including fictitious and third-party purchased accounts, utilizing numerous virtual and traditional credit card numbers, hiding their identities by using proxy or spoofed IP addresses, using automated software to purchase large quantities of tickets, using SIM boxes to facilitate the receipt of verification codes sent to the phone numbers associated with fake and third-party accounts used to purchase tickets.
Reselling such tickets on secondary marketplaces and charging a significant markup to consumers is also likely to draw regualtory scrutiny. As is exceeding event purchase limits.
Who Does the BOTS Act Apply To?
The BOTS Act applies to tickets to events of all sizes – as long as they are open to the public and take place in a venue with a seating or attendance capacity of more than 200 people.
The BOTS Act covers any concert, theatrical performance, sporting event, show, or similarly scheduled activity that falls into this category.
What Happens in the Event of a BOTS Act Violationi?
A violation of the BOTS Act can result in the FTC seek monetary civil penalties and other relief.
In 2021, the FTC brought three cases against ticket brokers it claimed violated the BOTS Act by using (i) automated ticket-buying software to search for and reserve tickets automatically, (ii) software to conceal their IP addresses, and (iii) hundreds of fictitious Ticketmaster accounts and credit cards to get around posted event ticket limits.
To resolve the FTC’s allegations, these companies agreed to orders requiring them to pay $3.7 million in civil penalties.
In August 2025, the FTC announced an action against ticket resellers for allegedly using illegal tactics to bypass ticket limit protections in violation of the Better Online Ticket Sales Act. Here, the FTC alleged that the defendants bypassed Ticketmaster’s protections and purchased hundreds of thousands of tickets to resell at a significant markup.
Note that state attorneys general also may enforce the BOTS Act. The law also authorizes state attorneys general to seek monetary relief or take other enforcement action on behalf of their residents if they have been adversely affected by the illegal practices the BOTS Act covers.