Law change after MP takes on touts who use ‘bots’ to price tickets out of reach of fans

TICKET touts who use computer programmes to buy concert tickets in bulk to sell on at vastly inflated prices are to face jail or heavy fines, The Daily Telegraph can disclose.

Ministers are planning to change the law to stop companies using “ticket scalping” software to scoop up hun- dreds of tickets for concerts and them to fans for a large profit.

The change will be based on a crackdown in New York late last year which has allowed prosecutors to hand people who use the software a jail term of up to a year or a fine of £5,000.

The change in New York expanded the definition of “ticket bots” to include a variety of systems that can amass tickets before the general public can access them. It also became illegal to resell tickets that were obtained through the use of a bot, even if they were sold at face value.

Ministers will table amendments to the Digital Economy Bill in the next 10 days.

The change in the law has come about after a campaign by Nigel Adams, a Tory MP, who in the Commons criticised online ticket companies selling Ed Sheeran tickets for a vast profit. Mr Adams has campaigned for the change since he was a victim of the practice last year when his attempt to buy four tickets for the rock group Green Day was “snaffled by a bot attack”.

He told MPs that “tickets to a teenage cancer charity gig by Ed Sheeran are being resold on the Viagogo ticket website for more than £1,000, with none of that money going to the charity”. Mr Adams added that “tickets to the hit musical Hamilton are being touted for upwards of £5,000 when Viagogo knows only too well that resold tickets are invalid for entry”.

He added: “It’s unfair and not indicative of a market that works for everyone.

“What will the Government do to make sure genuine fans are not fleeced by ticket touts and rogues?” Theresa May, the Prime Minister, told MPs yesterday that she backed a crackdown on consumers being priced out of the market for concert tickets.

Mrs May said: “We are as a government looking at the general issue of where markets are not working in the interests of consumers.”

Viagogo was approached for comment by The Daily Telegraph last night.