Problems with ticketing for music, theater, and sports abound these days. From 1981 to 2012, the average concert ticket price almost quintupled, compared to only a roughly 2.5x rise in overall consumer prices over the same period. The recent meteoric rise in surcharges and fees adds up to 40 percent to the cost. Bots used by third-party vendors can be used to cheat ticketing websites and buy up hundreds or more tickets at once, leaving those vendors to sell the tickets secondhand at markups up to 10 times more expensive.

Enter Rep. Bill Pascrell (D-NJ9). The massive Bruce Springsteen fan has introduced a bill to get the federal government to crack down on illegal or unfair practices in the ticketing industries. And the bill, H.R. 2545, is called the Better Oversight of Secondary Sales and Accountability in Concert Ticketing Act — better called by its Springsteen-inspired acronym, the BOSS ACT.

What the bill does

The bill would create several new rules for both the primary and secondary ticket markets, to be enforced by the Federal Trade Commission (FTC). Primary sellers must provide public disclosure of the total number of tickets being made available to the public — as opposed to being held for special groups, corporate sponsors, or VIPs — disclose all fees and additional charges, and must provide a full refund if requested by the purchaser at least a week before the event. Secondary markets must disclose whether or not they actually possess the ticket(s) at time of sale, and reveal the location and price of the event and seats, as many secondary markets currently withhold that information at time of resale. Finally, it would criminalize re-selling any tickets for higher than the face value.

What supporters say

Pascrell and other supporters say it would allow the federal government to finally crack down on a system that has operated unregulated for too long with too many negative consequences, while the disclosure provisions would be little different than the current nutrition facts required by the FDA on food and drink.

“The ticket industry is full of opaque practices that game the consumer, the casual fan. That’s why the BOSS ACT is necessary. It would bring transparency and a set of parameters to a multi-billion dollar industry running amok,” Rep. Pascrell said in a press release. “Allowing customers to know how many seats are going on sale and what fees they will be charged before they purchase tickets shouldn’t be too much to ask. The secondary sales market has gone unchecked for too long. I believe in a right-to-know standard for consumers, and this marketplace should be no different.”

What opponents say

Some opponents critique the bill on economic grounds, saying it hamstrings the free and open market. Others, while more supportive of the bill in general, say that in its current form it is too stringent in some ways or too vague in others.

“Open competition ensures ticket prices are naturally adjusted based on market conditions. Restrictions that limit consumer choice result in less supply, higher prices and, arguably, the monopolized experience consumers suffer at the initial purchase stage,” wrote Gary C. Adler, executive director of the National Association of Ticket Brokers.

“Laws that put artificial price caps and other restrictions on resales have fallen by the wayside,” Adler added. “This is because an open secondary market provides the choice consumers crave. Robust competition serves to establish the most favorable prices, in many instances below the initial sales price.”

While supporting the bill in general, FTC Chair Edith Ramirez did have criticisms of several provisions, including advocating for more specific requirements and banning certain misleading advertising rather than merely mandating disclosure of it.

“The bill should prohibit misrepresentations that a secondary ticket seller is the venue or the primary ticket seller, rather than requiring disclosures,” she said in testimony to the House Committee on Energy and Commerce. “Finally, the Commission recommends that the statutory requirements be specific enough to be enforced without a rule and that any rulemaking provision be discretionary rather than mandatory.”

Odds of passage

Pascrell was first inspired to introduce a variant on the bill in 2009 after his attempts to purchase Springsteen tickets in New Jersey went awry. Despite attracting 17 cosponsors, all Democrats, it never received a vote.

But could the bill make it further this time? It’s only attracted three cosponsors so far, again all Democrats. Plus the House is now controlled by Republicans who are generally opposed to any federal regulation of the free market. But if enough Republicans find themselves stimied after trying to buy concert or sports tickets, who knows?

This article was written by GovTrack Insider staff writer Jesse Rifkin.