It is taking much too long to kill the bots

You wouldn’t expect the government to just barge in and try to fix a problem without studying it a bit. But at the rate the NDP is moving, B.C. will finally make a move on the event-ticket scam around the time the Canucks’ box office starts selling Stanley Cup finals seats. That is to say, a long, long time from now.

The concept was put out as a teaser last spring — somebody should do something about the single most annoying aspect of live entertainment: trying to buy tickets.

It was smart politics to pitch the concept. It has universal appeal, it taps a deep current of resentment and it could be framed as government looking out for the working stiffs.

So after dangling the idea and getting some favourable feedback, the next step was to plumb the public mood more deeply. That’s where the momentum started to fade.

It took five months to collate 6,500 returned questionnaires into a summary of engagement.

And the summary is so blindingly obvious as to how people feel about it, they might as well have gauged views on the Canada Revenue phone scammers.

It amounts to asking people: “Do you like being gouged, ripped off and played for a sucker every time you buy a ticket?” then tabulating the responses. It turns out — stop the presses — no, they don’t. “The results of the questionnaire suggest … there is frustration with the ticket-buying process in the primary market.”

Here are some of the other revelations: • Because the primary ticket market is such a massive con, people often turn to the secondary market, even though they have misgivings because it can be unfair and more expensive. • “Technology plays a major role in ticket buying.” That’s just a given. Online sales have dominated for years. People haven’t lined up in person to buy tickets for major acts since the Rolling Stones’ fourth farewell tour.

And in that online world, the government has determined that everybody hates the “bots,” those programs that snap up bulk seats instantly.

They really, really hate bots. But again, everybody already knew that.

Event tickets are a classic example of online commerce promising much more ease and convenience, but instead ruining everything.

The obvious nature of the conclusions is evident in some of the breakdowns.

Ninety per cent of respondents said they had problems buying tickets from a primary seller, and 96.7 per cent want bots banned.

That’s the closest to unanimous anyone has ever gotten in the history of B.C. government opinion surveys.

To be fair, the summary of the engagement process does make some modest contributions in refining ideas past the obvious stage.

The premise that the whole industry is rigged is held universally. But the government is trying to figure out what to do about it, and parts of the survey illustrate what some popular moves would be.

Whether they are doable and whether they would work is another matter. The problem is universal, so there isn’t a track record of jurisdictions fixing this scandal.

About half the people want the companies using bots prosecuted. There is widespread support for putting a price limit on resold tickets, say 25 or 50 per cent over asking price.

There was also another almost unanimous finding (90 per cent) that secondary sellers should not be allowed to sell tickets before a primary seller has made them available to the public.

The overall conclusion isn’t stated, but shines through on every page — the ticket industry is one of the most reviled sectors of the entire economy. Its processes are thoroughly corrupted, and no one has any faith that they’re getting a fair shake.

But what to do about it is a different matter. The government is groping around for some ideas. There might or might not be legislation, but it won’t be until next spring and would take longer to take effect.

There’s an enormous appetite for swift action ( “Death to the Bots!”).

But at the current rate, B.C. is a long way from the day when the slick operators behind the bots are dragged to the front lawn of the legislature, flogged and banished.

I’d buy tickets to see that.