UK government to act on touting

In the wake of an outcry over touts re-selling tickets for Ed Sheerhan's Teenage Cancer Trust charity show at the Royal Albert Hall and Adele's O2 concerts, UK ticket touts who use computer 'bots' to mine for concert tickets before selling them for massive profits, and blocking fans from seeing their favourite artists except at huge mark ups, will face unlimited fines.

National Trading Standards will also be handed a ringfenced pot of money to fund efforts to stop fans being ripped off or shut out of the most in-demand events.

As well as criminalising bots, United Kingdom ministers at the DCMS will accept in full the recommendations of a review by Professor Michael Waterson, who published proposals to tackle rogue ticket traders last year. These include demanding that ticket firms to step up their own efforts to prevent the use of bots and to report any attacks on their systems by touts trying to harvest tickets.

Culture minister Matt Hancock said: "This profiteering is simply not fair, so we are acting to put fans first and improve the chances of seeing our favourite musicians and sports stars at a reasonable price" adding "Ticket sellers also need to do more, by improving transparency and ensuring that they are acting in the best interests of consumers and help the market work for everyone."

http://news.sky.com/story/ban-on-bots-ticket-touts-face-unlimited-fines-10797695

https://www.theguardian.com/money/2017/mar/10/ministers-to-criminalise-use-of-ticket-tout-harvesting-software

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-39239133