Ticket scalping 'bots' that snap up the best seats at concerts and sports events, forcing genuine fans to pay huge mark-ups for tickets, are set to be outlawed under new reforms by the NSW state government.
The software has been suspected of plundering ticket sales for big games like the Sydney Ashes Test, to resell them at more than $1500 a pop, and headline acts such as Justin Bieber, where consumer group Choice uncovered mark-ups in resale prices of up to 500 percent.
"What we're seeing is ticket bot technology being used to sweep up tickets and deprive genuine fans of getting access to the concerts and sporting events that they want to see," Minister for Innovation and Better Regulation Matt Kean said.
"I'm sick and tired of consumers being ripped off by shonky operators trying to make a quick buck at the expense of genuine fans."
In a reform to the state's Fair Trading Act, bot technology will be made illegal for the first time in Australia, which will also allow legitimate agencies such as Ticketek to seek court injunctions against scalpers.
"It's great news that the NSW government has stepped to centre stage and is banning these dodgy ticket bots that mean you and I can't actually get a reasonable price for a ticket," Minister Kean said.
"We need a coordinated national and international effort to combat dodgy ticket sellers, because at the moment, so many of us are getting a raw deal."
Minister Kean also said that the reforms would see a crackdown on advertisers who breach the resale laws. Image: Reuters
Along with the new measures to outlaw the software, ticket resales would also be capped at a maximum of 10 percent of the initial sale.
In Queensland, ticket resellers face fines of up to $2400 if they exceed the 10 percent mark-up cap.
Consumer group CHOICE has welcomed the NSW reforms, saying that the ticket resale industry is in "utter shambles", and the move represents the "first step" to cleaning up the market.
Earlier this year, the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission announced it was taking ticket reseller Viagogo to court for misleading and deceptive conduct.
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