Bots are funny when they try to get you to sign up for stupid promotions or strange dating sites on Instagram, but they’re not as funny when they swoop 1000 tickets in one minute. As a means to defeat scalpers, the UK Government is looking to introduce legislation that fines those using bots with £5000 and having them serve prison time. Such laws like this are currently enforced in New York, which introduced a law this year after a huge bust.
Conservative MP Nigel Adams tabled the newly proposed bill after he himself missed out on concert tickets due to scalper bots sweeping through and buying all the tickets before he and many others could acquire them.
Adams told the Guardian why he chose to act against this widely-used practice:
“I believe in the free market but I don’t believe in a crooked market. When that happens, politicians need to act, irrespective of political dogma. I don’t see [opposition to the amendment] chiming with Theresa May’s commitment to make sure we have a government that works for everyone not just a privileged few.”
Read more about these laws to be introduced at The Guardian.
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