BILL ANALYSIS

S.B. 1639

By: Zaffirini

Business & Industry

Committee Report (Unamended)

BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE

While bots provide legitimate benefits in our everyday lives, they can also run automated tasks to do things like install spyware, steal sensitive data, or bypass the purchasing processes for ticket marketplaces. The latter has become a widespread issue when tickets for well-known artists, Broadway shows, or sporting events are announced. Time and time again we see tickets go on sale for major artists being mass purchased by bots and then resold at a high markup to consumers desperate to see their favorite artist. Not only do these bots overpurchase tickets for resale on the secondary market, the overwhelming traffic to sites from both bots and legitimate customers causes technical failures for ticket sale platforms. S.B. 1639 seeks to address this issue by prohibiting the creation or use of bots for certain purposes relating to online ticket sales.

CRIMINAL JUSTICE IMPACT

It is the committee's opinion that this bill does not expressly create a criminal offense, increase the punishment for an existing criminal offense or category of offenses, or change the eligibility of a person for community supervision, parole, or mandatory supervision.

RULEMAKING AUTHORITY

It is the committee's opinion that this bill does not expressly grant any additional rulemaking authority to a state officer, department, agency, or institution.

ANALYSIS

S.B. 1639 amends the Business & Commerce Code to prohibit a person from using or creating a bot to do the following:

· purchase tickets in excess of posted limits for an online ticket sale;

· use multiple Internet Protocol (IP) addresses, multiple purchaser accounts, or multiple email addresses to purchase tickets in excess of posted limits for an online ticket sale;

· circumvent or disable an electronic queue, waiting period, presale code, or other sales volume limitation system associated with an online ticket sale; or

· circumvent or disable a security measure, access control system, or other control or measure that is used to facilitate authorized entry to an event.

S.B. 1639 authorizes the attorney general to investigate a claim that a person violated these prohibitions and, if the attorney general concludes that a person is violating the prohibitions, to bring an action in the name of the state to restrain or enjoin the person from violating the prohibitions. The bill authorizes the attorney general, in addition to bringing an action for injunctive relief, to seek restitution and petition a district court for the assessment of a civil penalty capped at $10,000 for each violation a person knowingly commits, and sets the maximum amount of a civil penalty for a violation of a court order or injunction issued to enforce the prohibition at $100,000. The bill establishes that every ticket transaction in which a ticket is acquired to be sold in violation of the prohibition constitutes a separate violation for purposes of assessing a civil penalty. The bill authorizes the attorney general to recover all reasonable costs of bringing such an action, including court costs, reasonable attorney's fees, and investigation costs.

S.B. 1639 defines the following terms for purposes of its provisions:

· "bot" as any automated software program that performs automatic and repetitive tasks and is designed to impersonate or replicate human activity online, excluding autofill or password management features built into an Internet browser or provided through separate software;

· "event" as a concert, theatrical performance, sporting event, exhibition, show, or similar scheduled activity that is open to the public, is held in a public or private venue, and requires payment of an admission fee to attend the activity; and

· "ticket" as a physical or electronic certificate, voucher, document, token, or other evidence of a right for admission to enter a place of entertainment for one or more events at one or more specified dates and times.

The bill applies only to a purchase that occurs on or after the bill's effective date, regardless of whether a ticket for an event was issued before that date.

EFFECTIVE DATE

September 1, 2023.