Patti Singer

@PattiSingerRoc

Reading from a script that sounded like it had been cribbed from liner notes of Bruce Springsteen albums, U.S. Sen. Charles Schumer said he sympathized with the rocker’s fans who found themselves out in the street when they went online to buy tickets for his February show at the Blue Cross Arena.

“When hopeful concertgoers went online the day tickets were made available, they were told they needed a little more than a hungry heart to get tickets,” Schumer said Monday as he pitched legislation to stop the use of software programs — bots — that gobble up tickets for resale.

The Democrat from New York is proposing a bill that would allow the Federal Trade Commission to fine the users of bots $16,000 per ticket per day. “That’s millions of dollars,” he said at a news conference in the lobby of the arena. “It would put them out of business. It would prohibit the deceptive act of using software like bots to circumvent the ticket purchasing system.”

New York has a law against bots, and earlier this year New York Attorney General Eric Schneiderman released a 44-page report on the problem. “Obstructed View: What’s Blocking New Yorkers from Getting Tickets” recommended that the state Legislature mandate reform, including criminal penalties for use of bots.

Schumer said bots operate across state lines and even across national boundaries, and the federal government could chase what he called cyber hackers more effectively than the states. He said the Justice Department would help with enforcement.

Schumer said the bill would distinguish between bots and companies in the legitimate secondary market, such as TicketMaster and StubHub.

“The secondary market does not do what the bots do, which is run and grab all the tickets immediately,” he said. “Nor do they charge the kinds of markups we’ve seen.”

Schumer, who was flanked by promoter Albert Nocciolino and John Parkhurst of the Rochester Broadway Theatre League, said the Springsteen concert at the Blue Cross Arena was only one example of the egregious practice. He said bots bought up a considerable amount of tickets for the Paul McCartney show in October at the First Niagara Center in Buffalo.

Schumer said local venues are the only opportunity many residents have to see world-class acts. He called bot operators “nefarious bottom-feeding people who take people’s joy away.”

Schumer said there is a bipartisan bill in the House of Representatives, called the Better On-Line Ticket Sales Act of 2014. Just the name alone says the topic has vexed legislators for a while. Schumer said he hoped for passage of the bill early next year, which would allow consumers to see their favorite performers in their glory days.

PSINGER@Gannett.com