FTC起诉大型票务经纪商：指控绕过限购囤票逾1850万张 获利至少1.208亿美元
华盛顿——联邦贸易委员会（FTC）10月15日宣布起诉大型票务经纪商 REPS & Company Inc.，指控其非法绕过票务发行方的限购与安全措施，大量囤积热门现场演出门票，再于二级市场高价转售牟利。诉状由司法部在 FTC 移交后向加州南区联邦地方法院提起，一同被诉的还有该公司首席执行官瑞安·潘切里（Ryan Pancheri）、总裁布赖恩·阿奇博尔德（Brian Archibald）与首席运营官尼古拉斯·托塔格兰德（Nicholas Totagrande）。FTC 指控上述行为违反《优化在线售票法》（Better Online Ticket Sales Act，即 BOTS 法案），该法禁止绕过票务网站用以执行限购规则的安全与技术管控措施。
诉状称，自2022年以来，REPS 对至少83,500场活动购入超过单场限购数量的门票，累计花费超过13亿美元囤积逾1,850万张门票，转售获利至少1.208亿美元。诉状举例称，2023年碧昂丝「文艺复兴」巡演在密苏里州Kansas City的一场演唱会，REPS 动用1,300个账户买下7,624张门票，获利83.3万美元。
诉状还指控，REPS 以主要位于菲律宾的员工团队操作绕过手段，包括使用以他人姓名、地址或电话号码开设的数千个购票账户、由公司控制的虚拟信用卡账户与虚拟电话号码，以及掩盖账户使用者身份与位置的 IP 代理服务和多会话浏览器；当票务发行方侦测并拦截超限购票时，该公司会微调账户持有人姓名或地址等细节继续规避，其内部文件亦显示公司人员曾讨论确保账户不被封禁的策略。
FTC 消费者保护局局长克里斯托弗·穆法里奇（Christopher Mufarrige）表示，该公司的整个商业模式就是设法钻购票系统的空子，取得尽可能多的门票以抬高价格转售，试图借此剥夺普通乐迷以合理价格购票机会的公司应知监管方正在盯着并会采取行动。FTC 委员会以2比0的表决将诉状移交司法部提起诉讼；诉状所载为指控，案件尚待法院审理裁决。
（来源：美国联邦贸易委员会）
FTC Sues Major Ticket Broker, Alleging It Bypassed Purchase Limits to Hoard 18.5 Million Tickets for at Least $120.8 Million in Profit
WASHINGTON — The Federal Trade Commission announced on October 15 that it has sued REPS & Company Inc., alleging the major ticket broker illegally circumvented ticket issuers' purchase limits and security measures to amass millions of tickets to high-demand live events and resell them at a significant profit. The complaint, filed by the Department of Justice on the FTC's referral in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of California, also names the company's CEO Ryan Pancheri, President Brian Archibald and Chief Operating Officer Nicholas Totagrande. The FTC alleges violations of the Better Online Ticket Sales (BOTS) Act, which bars circumventing security measures and technological controls used by ticket issuers to enforce posted ticket limits.
Since 2022, the complaint alleges, REPS purchased more than the per-event ticket limit for at least 83,500 events, spending more than $1.3 billion to amass more than 18.5 million tickets and generating at least $120.8 million in profit reselling them. In one example cited in the complaint, REPS used 1,300 accounts to buy 7,624 tickets to a single 2023 Beyonce Renaissance tour concert in Kansas City, Missouri, generating $833,000 in profit.
The complaint further alleges that REPS used a team of employees, most based in the Philippines, employing unlawful methods including thousands of purchasing accounts created with other people's names, addresses or phone numbers, virtual credit card accounts and phone numbers controlled by the company, and IP proxy services and multi-session browsers masking users' identity and location. When issuers detected and blocked limit-evading purchases, the company allegedly made slight changes to account holders' names or addresses to keep operating, and internal documents allegedly show officials discussing tactics to keep accounts from being blocked.
Christopher Mufarrige, Director of the FTC's Bureau of Consumer Protection, said the company's entire business model is focused on gaming the ticket-purchasing system to obtain as many tickets as possible to resell at inflated prices, and warned that companies seeking to profit by driving up prices or depriving ordinary fans of fairly priced tickets should know the agency is watching and will act. The Commission voted 2-0 to refer the complaint to the Justice Department. The allegations in the complaint remain to be decided by the court.
(Source: Federal Trade Commission press release, October 15)
来源：美国联邦贸易委员会
发布：GSM·美国（发布链接）
图片来源：图：美国联邦贸易委员会总部 Apex Building（华盛顿）。摄影：Carol M. Highsmith，公共领域，来源：Wikimedia Commons。The Apex Building, headquarters of the Federal Trade Commission in Washington. Photo by Carol M. Highsmith, public domain, via Wikimedia Commons.
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