| |||||||
| |||||||
| 1 | AN ACT concerning business. | ||||||
| 2 | Be it enacted by the People of the State of Illinois, | ||||||
| 3 | represented in the General Assembly: | ||||||
| 4 | Section 1. Short title. This Act may be cited as the | ||||||
| 5 | Prohibition on Bots Purchasing Tickets Act. | ||||||
| 6 | "Section 5. Definition. As used in this Act: | ||||||
| 7 | "Bot" means any automated software program that performs | ||||||
| 8 | automatic and repetitive tasks and is designed to impersonate | ||||||
| 9 | or replicate human activity online. "Bot" does not include | ||||||
| 10 | auto fill or password management features built into an | ||||||
| 11 | Internet browser or provided through separate software. | ||||||
| 12 | "Event facility" means a permanent structure for holding | ||||||
| 13 | public meetings or public events, including, but not limited | ||||||
| 14 | to, musical, dramatic, artistic, social, or athletic events. | ||||||
| 15 | "Event facility" includes a convention center. "Event | ||||||
| 16 | facility" does not include a school stadium, a county fair, a | ||||||
| 17 | hotel, or a facility primarily owned or operated by a | ||||||
| 18 | professional sports team or franchise. | ||||||
| 19 | Section 10. Prohibition on automated online ticket | ||||||
| 20 | purchasing. | ||||||
| 21 | (a) A person shall not use or create one or more bots to: | ||||||
| 22 | (1) purchase tickets in excess of posted limits for an | ||||||
| |||||||
| |||||||
| 1 | online ticket sale; | ||||||
| 2 | (2) use multiple Internet protocol addresses, multiple | ||||||
| 3 | purchaser accounts, or multiple email addresses to | ||||||
| 4 | purchase tickets in excess of the posted limit for any | ||||||
| 5 | single online ticket sale; or | ||||||
| 6 | (3) circumvent or disable an electronic queue, waiting | ||||||
| 7 | period, pre-sale code, or other sales volume limitation | ||||||
| 8 | system associated with an online ticket sale. | ||||||
| 9 | (b) An owner or operator of an event facility that sells | ||||||
| 10 | tickets to events, and any agent who conducts or facilitates | ||||||
| 11 | those sales, shall report any known violation described in | ||||||
| 12 | subsection (a) to the Attorney General within a reasonable | ||||||
| 13 | period of time after discovery of the violation. The report | ||||||
| 14 | shall include: | ||||||
| 15 | (1) a description of the violation; | ||||||
| 16 | (2) any available information about the individuals or | ||||||
| 17 | entities involved in the violation; and | ||||||
| 18 | (3) any measures taken or planned to be taken to | ||||||
| 19 | prevent further violations. | ||||||
| 20 | Section 15. Enforcement. A violation of this Act | ||||||
| 21 | constitutes an unlawful practice under the Consumer Fraud and | ||||||
| 22 | Deceptive Business Practices Act. All remedies, penalties, and | ||||||
| 23 | authority granted by the Consumer Fraud and Deceptive Business | ||||||
| 24 | Practices Act shall be available for the enforcement of this | ||||||
| 25 | Act. | ||||||
| |||||||
| |||||||
| 1 | Section 90. The Consumer Fraud and Deceptive Business | ||||||
| 2 | Practices Act is amended by adding Section 2MMMM as follows: | ||||||
| 3 | (815 ILCS 505/2MMMM new) | ||||||
| 4 | Sec. 2MMMM. Violations of the Prohibition on Bots | ||||||
| 5 | Purchasing Tickets Act. Any person that violates the | ||||||
| 6 | Prohibition on Bots Purchasing Tickets Act commits an unlawful | ||||||
| 7 | practice within the meaning of this Act. | ||||||