S. 196 · Where this bill is now
In committee
Introduced in the Senate, Jan 22, 2025
What this bill does
In plain words · AI-written from the official summaryCracking down on automated ticket-buying bots
Ever wondered how some people seem to snatch up concert tickets in seconds. This bill makes it illegal to use automated software bots or other tricks to bypass a ticket seller's rules and buy up large quantities of tickets. Online ticket sellers would also have to set up security protections for their websites and report it when they discover someone has tried to cheat the system.
How it affects you
If you buy tickets online, this could help level the playing field by making it harder for resellers and bots to scoop up tickets before regular fans get a chance. Ticket sellers would need to invest in better security and work with law enforcement to crack down on these schemes, which could affect ticket prices and availability.
Read the official summary (Introduced in Senate, Jan 22, 2025)
Mitigating Automated Internet Networks for Event Ticketing Act or the MAIN Event Ticketing Act
This bill expands measures to protect the security and integrity of online ticket sales.
Specifically, the bill prohibits the use of applications that perform automated tasks to purchase event tickets from online ticket sellers in circumvention of the seller's posted ticket purchasing order rules. This includes using software applications that circumvent access control systems or security measures.
In addition, online ticket sellers must establish, implement, and maintain reasonable administrative, technical, and physical safeguards to protect the security, confidentiality, integrity, or availability of the seller's website or service.
Further, online ticket sellers must report known incidents of circumvention to the Federal Trade Commission and take reasonable steps to address any such incidents.
The bill establishes civil penalties for violations of the provisions of this bill (and related prohibitions under current law) and authorizes the commission to bring civil actions for such violations.
Federal, state, and local law enforcement agencies must coordinate as appropriate with the commission to share information about known instances of cyberattacks against the websites or online services used by ticket sellers.
The commission must report to Congress on the status of enforcement actions taken under this bill.
Written by AI (Claude) using only the official summary by the Congressional Research Service, the Library of Congress’s nonpartisan research staff. It can miss nuance, so check the official summary and the bill text for details.
1st SessionS. 196
A BILL
MAIN Event Ticketing Act
Sponsor: Sen. Marsha Blackburn (R-TN) · Introduced Jan 22, 2025 · Commerce · 2 versions of the text
Sources: Congress.gov actions and votes · bill text from GovInfo · latest official action Sep 2, 2025: “Placed on Senate Legislative Calendar under General Orders. Calendar No. 144.”
Sections
The wording of this bill hasn’t changed across its 2 official versions.