Taylor Swift Helps Ticket Scalping Bot Bill Move in Pennsylvania

Pennsylvania lawmakers are siding with Taylor Swift fans in their battle against the ticket-buying bots that scoop up tickets for scalpers.

State legislation (H.B. 1378) to ban the software that powers the bots passed the Democrat-led House Monday 193-10 and has support in the Republican-controlled Senate.

“Grinch bots create an artificial scarcity of popular and desirable products and services and therefore manipulate the market for consumer goods,” state Rep. Steve Malagari (D) said on the chamber floor ahead of vote. “Consumers literally cannot compete or buy tickets as quickly as the bots can.”

The bill aims to bar the use of software to automatically buy tickets in bulk for the purpose of resale. It’s the latest example of the national political fallout after Ticketmaster suspended sales for Swift’s “Eras Tour” soon after they opened last November.

A “staggering” number of bots helped drive the sales website into a temporary meltdown, the company said at the time.

Live Nation Entertainment, which owns Ticketmaster, claimed to state lawmakers months later that it knew the bots were capable of snapping up the tickets.

“Scalpers use bots to circumvent online security measures, access control systems, or other technological controls designed to ensure that real fans can access tickets,” said lobbyist Howard Waltzman, while testifying on behalf of Live Nation Entertainment in favor of the proposal at a Sept. 13 legislative hearing in Harrisburg.

The bill would allow performers, venues, and ticket vendors to file suit against alleged violators for $1,000 per ticket as well as attorney fees.

‘Should Be Criminal’

Outrage from “Swifties” over the delayed ticket sales provoked a bipartisan response from state officials across the country amid ongoing inaction by the federal government on the issue.

At least 24 states eventually considered more than 70 bills to address ticket-buying bots since the Eras Tour debacle, according to the National Conference of State Legislatures. Texas last month became the first state to enact a bot ban.

Pennsylvania could be next, after two members of the Republican-led state Senate announced plans to push the House-approved idea through their own chamber. Members typically circulate such requests for support ahead of a floor vote.

Some tech companies oppose the bill. The tech group Chamber of Progress has argued that the bill benefits Live Nation Entertainment more than ordinary people by tamping down a secondary market. “Online ticket resales can create more affordability for consumers. When a monopoly like Ticketmaster sets a price that doesn’t reflect demand, consumers have no other choice about where to buy tickets -- unless there is a secondary market,” the group posted on X, formerly known as Twitter.

Fans of one of the most powerful entertainers in the world can count on some of their own to move the bill forward nearly a year after the ticket bots started what state Rep. Jennifer O’Mara (D) “The Great War” while speaking in favor of the bill.

“It should be criminal for these bots to buy up all the tickets and sell them for up to three times their original price,” said O’Mara, a self-described Swiftie. “I’m so sick of running as fast as I can to beat these bots.”