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NYS cracks down on ticket bots

Posted at 11:39 AM, Nov 29, 2016
and last updated 2016-11-29 11:39:11-05

If you've ever had a hard time getting tickets to a popular concert, show or play, you may have fallen victim to a "ticket bot".  The software is designed to snatch up tickets quickly, and they're then resold at much higher prices.

New York State is cracking down on people who use the bots to buy chunks of tickets.  Governor Cuomo signed a law Monday that created new penalties for people who use the bots to buy extra tickets  It also makes it illegal to resell tickets that were bought with a bot.  Both are now misdemeanors, and can lead to fines and prison time.

The Associated Press reported that New York Attorney General Eric Schneiderman's office found third-party ticket resellers often use ticket bots to purchase large blocks of tickets, which are resold at a high mark-up.

Schneiderman told the AP he worked with "Hamilton" creator Lin-Manuel Miranda to pass the law, which he says will help "bring sanity" to ticket buying.