By: Thimesch H.B. No. 2444
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT
relating to prohibitions in connection with event ticket sales or
resales on an Internet website.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
SECTION 1. Subtitle B, Title 10, Business & Commerce Code,
is amended by adding Chapter 328 to read as follows:
CHAPTER 328. ONLINE SALE OR RESALE OF EVENT TICKETS
Sec. 328.001. DEFINITIONS. In this chapter:
(1) "Event" means a concert, theatrical performance,
sporting event, exhibition, show, or similar scheduled activity
that:
(A) is open to the public;
(B) is held in a public or private venue; and
(C) requires payment of an admission fee to
attend the activity.
(2) "Event ticket" means a physical or electronic
certificate, document, voucher, token, or other evidence of a right
to enter an event, an entitlement to purchase a right to enter an
event, or a right to occupy a specified seat at an event.
(3) "Resale" means any form of transfer of possession
or an offer of transfer of possession, including an offer of
transfer of the entitlement to possession, of an event ticket, made
by any means from a person other than the ticket issuer.
(4) "Resale ticket agent" means a person who directly
or indirectly makes event tickets available for resale to the
public.
(5) "Ticket issuer" means a person who directly or
indirectly makes event tickets available for sale to the general
public.
Sec. 328.002. PROHIBITIONS REGARDING ONLINE EVENT TICKET
SALES OR RESALES. (a) A person may not sell, use, or cause to be
used any method, technology, device, or software in the sale or
resale of event tickets on a ticket issuer's or resale ticket
agent's Internet website that:
(1) functions as a bypass in the ticket purchasing
process;
(2) disguises the identity of the ticket purchaser;
(3) permits the purchase of a quantity of event
tickets in a number that exceeds the maximum number of tickets that
may be sold to one purchaser as specified by the event owner or
operator on the website; or
(4) circumvents a security measure, access control
system, or other control, authorization, or measure in the ticket
purchasing process.
(b) A person may not decode, decrypt, modify, or reverse
engineer an event ticket or an underlying algorithm or barcode used
in the ticket's production or on any Internet website in the sale or
resale of the ticket.
Sec. 328.003. ENFORCEMENT BY ATTORNEY GENERAL; INJUNCTION.
(a) The attorney general may investigate a claim that a person
violated this chapter.
(b) If the attorney general believes that a person is
violating or about to violate this chapter, the attorney general
may bring an action in the name of the state to restrain or enjoin
the person from violating this chapter.
(c) The attorney general is entitled to recover all
reasonable costs of bringing an action under this section,
including court costs, reasonable attorney's fees, and
investigation costs.
SECTION 2. Section 328.002, Business & Commerce Code, as
added by this Act, applies to a purchase that occurs on or after the
effective date of this Act, regardless of whether any event tickets
were issued before that date.
SECTION 3. This Act takes effect September 1, 2023.