Queen´s Park bans sale of ticket bots, puts ceiling on resale value
(The Star Travel)

Ontarians may soon be able to get tickets to that must-see concert or sports event thanks to new legislation passed at Queen’s Park.The province on Wednesday banned the use or sale of ticket bots — computer software that quickly scoops up huge numbers of tickets online — and also put a ceiling on what can be charged for resale ducats.MPPs from the Liberals voted in favour of the bill, while the Progressive Conservatives and the New Democrats opposed it.“This really puts fans first,� said Attorney General Yasir Naqvi.“There’s no one magic bullet to dealing with the issue,� said Naqvi.NDP Leader Andrea Horwath said the legislation — the Liberals’ third attempt at tackling the issue — does not go far enough.“They’ve had three kicks at the can and they’re still not addressing the jacking up of prices for families,� said Horwath.“The bottom line is this is not really consumer protection. It’s not going as far as should,� she said.Read more: Ticketmaster sues over use of ‘bots’ to buy up seatsHow bot technology and the entertainment industry keep tickets out of fans’ handsOpinion: To beat scalpers, artists have to embrace capitalismProgressive Conservative MPP Vic Fedeli (Nipissing) predicted the law would do little to combat bots.“There was good legislation at the beginning that had full disclosure of the amount of tickets that were available and at the last second the government themselves put an amendment that took that out,� said Fedeli.That was a reference to a provision that would have forced ticket sellers to publicize how many tickets would be on sale for the concert, show or sporting event, as well as the capacity of the venue.Naqvi said that was changed to avoid “unintended consequences� in smaller communities.“Because that number is not a static number - of general on-sale (tickets). Because no artist li ...