CALGARY—The Alberta government is banning the use of online ticket bots as part of its efforts to crack down on ticket “scalpers” and inflated prices.

“Bots” are programs used by resellers to buy large numbers of tickets from venues moments after they go on sale, much faster than a human buyer can finish a purchase. Anyone in control of these bots can then sell the tickets back to the public at a much higher price.

“We’ve heard, over and over again, that game and concert tickets sell out very quickly and Albertans aren’t able to see their favourite team or band,” said Brian Malkinson, minister of Service Alberta, in a statement Wednesday morning. “These new rules will ensure they have a better shot at getting the tickets they want.”

Ticket sellers will now be required to use “reasonable diligence” in finding bots and cancelling any tickets believed to have been purchased by bots, the statement said.

The government said it’s also been working with Alberta’s entertainment industry to jointly investigate the use of bots. Major primary ticket sellers like Ticketmaster already spend millions of dollars on stopping bots, according to a government spokesperson, but he said these new regulations would give these companies more legal support to do so.

Big-name ticket sellers praised the government’s actions in the statement.

“Alberta’s new legislation will make cheating in ticket sales illegal by banning the use of scalper bots — and it is a big step forward for consumers,” said Patti-Anne Tarlton, chief operating officer for Ticketmaster Canada.

Ticket sellers doing business in the province will have to weed out large-scale block-bot purchases and cancel those tickets. If they don’t, the province could levy fines of up to $300,000 or seek a sentence of up to two years in jail.

Along with the ban, the Alberta government is putting forward a series of protections for consumers — including the right to sue ticket bot users in the event they miss a concert or lose money because of a bot purchase. Ticket resellers will also be required to issue full refunds to customers if they buy a ticket for an event that ends up being rescheduled.

StubHub said they welcome the law, but already have stringent rules in place to combat ticket sale fraud and the use of bots.

“The law doesn’t really change much for us in terms of our business,” said spokeperson Aimee Campbell.

For example, she said their platform — which allows ticket holders to sell to ticket buyers — doesn’t pay out to a seller until after a concert has taken place. The company also cover buyers in the event their tickets turn out to be faulty, or lost. And any ticket seller on StubHub is also required to present a valid credit card: if their tickets are fakes, their cost will be charged to them.

Alberta joins two other provinces — Ontario and Saskatchewan — that have banned ticket bots outright. A third province, Quebec, has passed legislation to do so, but it hasn’t yet taken effect.

Loading... Loading... Loading... Loading... Loading... Loading...

With files from The Canadian Press

Read more about: