Udall: Bill will crack down on ‘Grinch bots’
New Mexico Sen. Tom Udall joined a group of colleagues on the day before Thanksgiving in introducing legislation that will crack down on the use of digital “bot” technology being used to buy up large batches of trending holiday toys in order to resell them at inflated prices.
The third-party sellers are using these automated tools to manipulate online sales systems, making some toys nearly impossible to purchase anywhere at the original retail price, Udall’s office said.
“We can’t let Grinch bots steal New Mexicans’ hard-earned money — or the holidays,” the senator said. “Each holiday season, New Mexicans work day in and day out, saving up and looking for the best deals to surprise friends and family with thoughtful gifts. But when resellers use automated Grinch bots to cheat the system, they can snatch up beloved toys and highly discounted items to sell at outrageously inflated markups — all with a few keystrokes. Holiday shopping can be stressful enough without having to compete with an army of Grinch bots that don’t even have to sneak down the chimney to steal presents.”
Bots are software programs that can automatically spot and snap up inventory offered for sale online. In a matter of seconds, third-party vendors can purchase hundreds
of items, squeezing out parents and children, Udall’s office said. In 2016, the Better Online Ticket Sales Act was signed into law to ban “ticket bots” that intentionally bypass security measures on online ticketing websites to unfairly outprice individual fans. This new legislation would apply the mechanism of the BOTs Act to e-commerce sites to ban bots bypassing security measures on online retail sites.
The legislation has received support from national consumer organizations, including Consumer Reports, Consumer Federation of America and the National Consumer League.
VIOLENCE AGAINST WOMEN ACT
STALLS IN SENATE: While the Trump administration and Republican groups have been voicing frustrations about a lack of action on the United States Mexico Canada Agreement in the House, Democrats are voicing similar frustrations about the Violence Against Women Act reauthorization in the Senate.
“He won’t even put it on the floor,” U.S. Sen. Martin Heinrich, D-N.M., said of Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, a Republican from Kentucky.
“We passed a bipartisan Violence Against Women Act back in April in the House that respected tribes that addressed tribal courts and their ability to prosecute folks, criminals who assault women in Indian Country, and the Senate bill that they publicly put out disparages tribal courts, it protects the (National Rifle Association),” U.S. Rep. Deb Haaland said of a Republican Senate version that has yet to come up for vote. “They are more worried about the NRA than protecting the lives of women. All you have to do is compare their bill to our bill and you’ll see the vast differences. The Violence Against Women Act is not something we should be toying with.”
Heinrich and Udall were among Democratic senators introducing a companion bill to the one that passed the House.
“Leader McConnell and Republican leadership also must stop standing in the way of a Violence Against Women Act reauthorization that includes strengthened provisions for Indian Country, to protect Native women, families and communities,” Udall said last week.
HOLLOMAN AIR SPACE HEARINGS SET: Public hearings are scheduled this week addressing proposed changes to Holloman Air Force Base’s air space, U.S. Rep. Xochitl Torres Small announced.
Public input is sought as part of an environmental impact evaluation affecting communities near the base. Hearings will be Tuesday at the Sierra County Commission office in Truth or Consequences; Wednesday at the Grant County Chamber of Commerce in Silver City; and Thursday at the Ramada by Wyndham Las Cruces Hotel in Las Cruces. The hearings will be 5:30 to 8:30 p.m. each day.