H.R. 5104 · 114th Congress
BOTS Act
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Passed the House without a recorded vote, then expired. It passed by voice vote or unanimous consent, which don't record how each member voted, but didn't become law before the 114th Congress ended.
R
BlackburnSponsor18 cosponsors · 9 D, 9 R
R
Burgess
BB
R
Byrne
MB
R
Bishop
JC
D
Cooper
SC
D
Cohen
TC
D
Cárdenas
RC
R
Costello
SD
R
DesJarlais
GH
R
Harper
SI
D
Israel
LJ
R
Jenkins
JN
D
Nadler
DR
R
Ross
PT
R
Tiberi
PT
D
Tonko
JH
D
Huffman
JM
D
McNerney
CM
D
Maloney15 signed on when it was introduced; the rest joined later. Cosponsors who withdrew aren't shown.
- House Introduced Apr 28, 2016
- House Passed Sep 12, 2016
What it does: CRS summary · Passed House amended · Sep 12, 2016
(This measure has not been amended since it was reported to the House on September 9, 2016. The summary of that version is repeated here.)
Better On-line Ticket Sales Act of 2016 or the BOTS Act
(Sec. 2) This bill prohibits the sale of computer software that: (1) is primarily designed to circumvent technology that limits purchases made via an online ticket selling system, (2) has only a limited commercially significant purpose other than for such circumvention, or (3) is marketed to use for such circumvention.
The bill also prohibits the use of such circumvention software in violation of a system operator's posted limits on: (1) the quantity of tickets purchased by a single user; (2) the sequence, number, or frequency of transactions; or (3) the geographic location of transactions.
In addition, the bill makes it unlawful to resell in commerce tickets that were acquired through such a prohibited use of circumvention software if the reseller participated in, had the ability to control, or should have known about the violation.
It shall not be unlawful, however, to create or use software to: (1) investigate or further the enforcement or defense of any alleged violation of this bill, or (2) identify and analyze flaws and vulnerabilities of a computerized event ticketing system if these activities are conducted to advance the state of knowledge in the field of computer system security or to assist in the development of computer security products.
Violations shall be treated as unfair and deceptive acts or practices under the Federal Trade Commission Act.
The Federal Trade Commission and state attorneys general may enforce against violations.
Written by the nonpartisan Congressional Research Service. All summary versions on Congress.gov
About this bill and sources
Official title: Better On-line Ticket Sales Act of 2016
Latest action (Sep 13, 2016): Received in the Senate and Read twice and referred to the Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation.
Policy area: Commerce · Origin: House · Introduced: Apr 28, 2016
Official page on Congress.gov · Bill text (GovInfo) · Status record (XML)
- House Introduced Apr 28, 2016
- House Passed Sep 12, 2016
No recorded floor vote found.