Albertan's now have an extra layer of protection and opportunity when it comes to purchasing tickets for events, concerts and games.

Effective on August 1 2018, a new piece of legislation prevent the usage of software known as "bots" or "botting", which have been used by some sellers to purchase all available tickets for an event before regular consumers have a chance to purchase them.

Ben Lof from Service Alberta says using this software artificially raises the prices of tickets.

"Ticket bots are a computer program that is designed to scoop up or buy large amounts of tickets, before real Albertan's have a chance to. The sellers then sell these tickets in mass quantities, which leads them to charge whatever they want due to the scarcity they have created."

Lof says the legislation now protects customers and businesses by requiring them to have a defense against these types of programs.

"Businesses such as Ticketmaster, must now have some sort of action plan in place to deal with people utilizing botting software. They are also required to prohibit the sales of tickets if they are found to be purchased by a bot."

Lof says, a key goal of the legislation was to add more confidence and security for both businesses and customers.

"Customers who may have unknowingly purchased a bogus ticket from a reseller, are absolutely unequivocally entitled to a refund from a seller, whereas before they may have been out of luck. It's protecting consumers primarily, but its protecting legitimate businesses too, by allowing customers to feel more confident and more capable of acquiring tickets for events."

In the news release Brian Malkinson, Minister of Service Alberta says he's confident this will make the ticket purchasing process safer and easier.

"“We’ve heard, over and over again, that game and concert tickets sell out very quickly and Albertan's aren’t able to see their favorite team or band. When tickets are scarce, consumers are forced to pay sky-high prices or they are scammed by questionable resellers. Our government believes Albertan's deserve better. These new rules will ensure they have a better shot at getting the tickets they want.”

 

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