BOSS and SWIFT ACT of 2023

I 118TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION H. R. 3660 To protect consumers from unfair and deceptive acts and practices in connection with primary and secondary ticket sales, and for other purposes. IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES MAY 25, 2023 Mr. PASCRELL (for himself, Mr. PALLONE, Ms. BROWNLEY, and Ms. NOR- TON) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Energy and Commerce A BILL To protect consumers from unfair and deceptive acts and practices in connection with primary and secondary ticket sales, and for other purposes. Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa- 1 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 2 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 3 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Better Oversight of 4 Stub Sales and Strengthening Well Informed and Fair 5 Transactions for Audiences of Concert Ticketing Act of 6 2023’’ or the ‘‘BOSS and SWIFT ACT of 2023’’. 7 SEC. 2. DEFINITIONS. 8 In this Act: 9 VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:02 Jun 17, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3660.IH H3660 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 2 •HR 3660 IH (1) ANCILLARY CHARGES.—The term ‘‘ancillary 1 charges’’— 2 (A) means any fee that must be paid in 3 order to secure a ticket from a primary ticket 4 seller or secondary ticket sales marketplace, in- 5 cluding a service fee, convenience charge, deliv- 6 ery and logistics fee, and any other mandatory 7 charge; and 8 (B) does not include taxes. 9 (2) BASE PRICE.—The term ‘‘base price’’ 10 means the price charged for a ticket other than any 11 ancillary charge and tax. 12 (3) BOX OFFICE.—The term ‘‘box office’’ 13 means a physical location where tickets are offered 14 for primary sale. 15 (4) BUNDLED SERIES TICKETS.—The term 16 ‘‘bundled series tickets’’ means a package of tickets 17 for multiple events that are part of the same enter- 18 tainment series. 19 (5) COMMISSION.—The term ‘‘Commission’’ 20 means the Federal Trade Commission. 21 (6) DOMAIN NAME.—The term ‘‘domain name’’ 22 means a globally unique, hierarchical reference to an 23 Internet host or service, which is assigned through 24 centralized Internet naming authorities, and which is 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:02 Jun 17, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3660.IH H3660 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 3 •HR 3660 IH comprised of a series of character strings separated 1 by periods, with the right most string specifying the 2 top of the hierarchy. 3 (7) PRIMARY SALE.—The term ‘‘primary sale’’ 4 means, with regards to a ticket, the initial sale of a 5 ticket. 6 (8) PRIMARY TICKET SELLER.—The term ‘‘pri- 7 mary ticket seller’’ means an owner or operator of 8 a venue or a sports team, a manager or provider of 9 an event, or a provider of ticketing services (or an 10 agent of such owner, operator, manager, or provider) 11 that engages in the primary sale of tickets for an 12 event. 13 (9) PURCHASER.—The term ‘‘purchaser’’ 14 means any person who purchases a ticket from a 15 primary ticket seller or a secondary ticket seller, or 16 on a secondary ticket sales marketplace. 17 (10) RESALE; SECONDARY SALE.—The terms 18 ‘‘resale’’ or ‘‘secondary sale’’ means, with regards to 19 a ticket, any sale of a ticket that is not a primary 20 sale. 21 (11) SECONDARY TICKET SALES MARKET- 22 PLACE.—The term ‘‘secondary ticket sales market- 23 place’’ means a business, including a primary ticket 24 seller, that operates or provides a website, software 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:02 Jun 17, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3660.IH H3660 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 4 •HR 3660 IH application for a mobile device, or any other digital 1 platform, whose purpose is to resell or facilitate the 2 resale of tickets to purchasers. 3 (12) SECONDARY TICKET SELLER.—The term 4 ‘‘secondary ticket seller’’ means an individual, group 5 of individuals, or company, including a primary tick- 6 et seller, who engages in the resale or secondary sale 7 of tickets. 8 (13) TICKET.—The term ‘‘ticket’’ means a 9 printed, electronic, or other type of evidence of the 10 right for admission to a sporting event, theater, mu- 11 sical performance, or place of public amusement of 12 any kind, including bundled series tickets. 13 (14) TOTAL COST OF THE TICKET.—The term 14 ‘‘total cost of the ticket’’ means the base price of the 15 ticket and any ancillary charge. 16 (15) URL.—The term ‘‘URL’’ means the uni- 17 form resource locator for an internet website. 18 SEC. 3. TRANSPARENCY OF MARKETING, DISTRIBUTION, 19 AND PRICING BY TICKET SELLERS. 20 A primary ticket seller, secondary ticket seller, and 21 secondary ticket sales marketplace shall do the following: 22 (1) Disclose clearly and conspicuously the total 23 cost of the ticket, from the first time a ticket price 24 is displayed and anytime thereafter. 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:02 Jun 17, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3660.IH H3660 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 5 •HR 3660 IH (2) Provide the purchaser before purchase an 1 option to view the base price of the ticket with any 2 ancillary charge and tax itemized. 3 (3) Display the total cost of the ticket in any 4 price quote and advertisement that includes the tick- 5 et price. 6 (4) Not change the total cost of the ticket dur- 7 ing the purchase process unless there is a clear and 8 conspicuous notice that the total cost of the ticket 9 has changed. 10 (5) If a ticket is not delivered (except for a case 11 in which there is nondelivery due to a cause beyond 12 reasonable control of the seller, including a natural 13 disaster, civil disturbance, or otherwise unforeseeable 14 impediment) provide the purchaser, at the option of 15 the purchaser, at minimum— 16 (A) a full refund for the total cost of the 17 ticket and any tax; or 18 (B) subject to availability, a replacement 19 ticket in a comparable or upgraded location. 20 (6) Disclose clearly and conspicuously whether 21 any given ticket is being offered as a primary sale 22 or secondary sale. 23 (7) Disclose clearly and conspicuously the guar- 24 antee or refund policy, including whether any ancil- 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:02 Jun 17, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3660.IH H3660 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 6 •HR 3660 IH lary charge and tax will be refunded to the pur- 1 chaser, before the completion of the sale of a ticket. 2 (8) Prohibit the design, modification, or manip- 3 ulation of a user interface with the purpose or sub- 4 stantial effect of obscuring, subverting, or impairing 5 user autonomy, decision making, or choice. 6 (9) Not knowingly sell a ticket for the same 7 seat to more than one person. 8 (10) Report to the Federal Trade Commission 9 any actual or constructive knowledge of activity that 10 may be in violation of the BOTS Act of 2016 (15 11 U.S.C. 45c; Public Law 114–274). 12 SEC. 4. PRIMARY TICKET SELLER REQUIREMENTS. 13 A primary ticket seller shall do the following: 14 (1) Disclose clearly and conspicuously on the 15 website of the seller and at the box office of the 16 venue where the event will be held, the total number 17 and total cost of tickets that will be offered for sale 18 to the general public by the seller not less than 7 19 days before the date on which tickets are made 20 available for primary sale. 21 (2) Not restrict or hinder the ability of a pur- 22 chaser who has purchased a ticket from a primary 23 ticket seller from— 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:02 Jun 17, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3660.IH H3660 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 7 •HR 3660 IH (A) reselling any such ticket independently 1 of the primary ticket seller or any secondary 2 ticket sales marketplace owned or affiliated 3 with the primary ticket seller; and 4 (B) reselling such ticket on the secondary 5 ticket sales marketplace the purchaser chooses. 6 (3) Not require a minimum or maximum price 7 for the resale of any ticket purchased from a pri- 8 mary ticket seller. 9 (4) Not sanction or deny a purchaser admission 10 to an event, deny rights to bundled series tickets or 11 the renewal thereof, or otherwise discriminate 12 against a purchaser on the basis that the purchaser 13 resold a ticket, gifted a ticket, or purchased a resold 14 ticket. 15 SEC. 5. SECONDARY TICKET SELLERS AND SECONDARY 16 TICKET SALES MARKETPLACES REQUIRE- 17 MENTS. 18 A secondary ticket seller or secondary ticket sales 19 marketplace shall comply with the following requirements: 20 (1) If a secondary ticket seller does not control 21 the ticket at the time the ticket is offered for sale— 22 (A) the secondary ticket seller shall provide 23 a clear and conspicuous statement on the initial 24 ticket listing that the secondary ticket seller 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:02 Jun 17, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3660.IH H3660 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 8 •HR 3660 IH does not control the ticket and cannot guar- 1 antee that the seller will be able to obtain the 2 ticket; and 3 (B) the secondary ticket sales marketplace 4 shall implement and maintain a mechanism on 5 the platform of the marketplace to clearly and 6 conspicuously display the statement required in 7 subparagraph (A). 8 (2) A secondary ticket sales marketplace shall 9 provide a clear and conspicuous explanation of how 10 to obtain a refund of the total cost of the ticket and 11 any tax if the purchaser receives a ticket that does 12 not match the description of the ticket provided by 13 the secondary ticket seller. 14 (3) A secondary ticket sales marketplace shall 15 disclose clearly and conspicuously to a purchaser 16 when the secondary ticket sales marketplace is also 17 the primary ticket seller for a venue, team, or artist 18 associated with the event. 19 (4) A secondary ticket sales marketplace shall 20 disclose clearly and conspicuously upon offering a 21 ticket for resale— 22 (A) the delivery method, and the delivery 23 timing; and 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:02 Jun 17, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00008 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3660.IH H3660 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 9 •HR 3660 IH (B) the precise section and row of the seat 1 or space to which the ticket would entitle the 2 bearer, or, if information about the precise sec- 3 tion and row of the seat or space is not avail- 4 able, descriptive information about the location 5 of the seat or space, such as a description of a 6 section or other area within the venue where 7 the seat or space is located. 8 (5) A secondary ticket sales marketplace— 9 (A) shall provide a clear and conspicuous 10 statement, before a visitor creates an account 11 with the secondary ticket sales marketplace or 12 selects a ticket, that the marketplace is engaged 13 in the secondary sale of tickets and is not affili- 14 ated or endorsed by a venue, team, or artist, as 15 the case may be, unless the marketplace has the 16 express written consent of the venue, team, or 17 artist, as applicable; and 18 (B) shall not use a domain name, or any 19 subdomain thereof, in the URL of the market- 20 place that contains— 21 (i) the name of a specific team, 22 league, or venue where concerts, sports, or 23 other live entertainment events are held, 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:02 Jun 17, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00009 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3660.IH H3660 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 10 •HR 3660 IH unless authorized by the owner of the 1 name; 2 (ii) the name of the exhibition or per- 3 formance or of another event described in 4 clause (i), including the name of a person, 5 team, performance, group, or entity sched- 6 uled to perform at any such venue or 7 event, unless authorized by the owner of 8 the name; 9 (iii) any trademark not owned by the 10 secondary ticket sales marketplace, includ- 11 ing any trademark owned by an authorized 12 agent or partner of the venue or event 13 identified in clauses (i) and (ii); or 14 (iv) any name substantially similar to 15 those described in clauses (i) and (ii), in- 16 cluding any misspelling of any name de- 17 scribed in those clauses. 18 (6) Shall not permit the unauthorized sec- 19 ondary sale of a ticket by an individual employee of 20 any venue, primary ticket seller, team, artist, pro- 21 moter, secondary ticket sales marketplace, or box of- 22 fice, that is directly involved in hosting, promoting, 23 performing in, or selling tickets if such secondary 24 sale— 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:02 Jun 17, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00010 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3660.IH H3660 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 11 •HR 3660 IH (A) is for a higher total cost than the total 1 cost in the primary sale of the ticket; or 2 (B) is made to any third party and the em- 3 ployee has actual knowledge, or knowledge fair- 4 ly implied on the basis of objective cir- 5 cumstances, that the third party intends to sell 6 the ticket for a higher total cost than the total 7 cost in the primary sale of the ticket. 8 SEC. 6. ENFORCEMENT. 9 (a) FEDERAL TRADE COMMISSION.—A violation of 10 sections 3, 4, or 5 of this Act, or any rule prescribed pur- 11 suant to this Act, is enforceable as a violation of a rule 12 defining an unfair or deceptive act or practice prescribed 13 under section 18(a)(1)(B) of the Federal Trade Commis- 14 sion Act (15 U.S.C. 57a(a)(1)(B)). The Federal Trade 15 Commission shall enforce this Act in the same manner, 16 by the same means, and with the same jurisdiction as 17 though all applicable terms and provisions of the Federal 18 Trade Commission Act were incorporated into and made 19 a part of this Act. Nothing in this Act shall be construed 20 to limit the authority of the Federal Trade Commission 21 under any other law. 22 (b) STATE ATTORNEYS GENERAL.— 23 (1) IN GENERAL.—Except as provided in para- 24 graph (6), in any case in which the attorney general 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:02 Jun 17, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00011 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3660.IH H3660 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 12 •HR 3660 IH of a State has reason to believe that an interest of 1 the residents of that State has been or is threatened 2 or adversely affected by the engagement of any per- 3 son in a practice that violates a rule prescribed pur- 4 suant to this Act, the State, as parens patriae, may 5 bring a civil action on behalf of the residents of the 6 State in an appropriate district court of the United 7 States or other court of competent jurisdiction to— 8 (A) enjoin that practice; 9 (B) enforce compliance with the rule; 10 (C) obtain civil penalties; 11 (D) obtain damages, restitution, or other 12 compensation on behalf of residents of the 13 State; and 14 (E [Text truncated for display. 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