Bill Text: CA AB329 | 2013-2014 | Regular Session | Amended

NOTE: There are more recent revisions of this legislation. Read Latest Draft

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Bill Title: Ticket sellers: equitable online ticket buying process: sale or use of circumventing software.

Spectrum: Moderate Partisan Bill (Democrat 4-1)

Status: (Passed) 2013-09-23 - Chaptered by Secretary of State - Chapter 325, Statutes of 2013. [AB329 Detail]

Download: California-2013-AB329-Amended.html

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BILL NUMBER: AB 329	AMENDED
	BILL TEXT

	AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY  MARCH 21, 2013

INTRODUCED BY   Assembly Member Pan

                        FEBRUARY 13, 2013

   An act to  amend Section 22500   repeal and
add Chapter 21 (commencing with Section 22500) of Division 8  of
the Business and Professions Code, relating to ticket 
sellers   issuers  .


	LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST


   AB 329, as amended, Pan. Ticket  sellers.  
issuers and resale ticket agents.  
   Existing law provides comprehensive regulation of ticket sellers,
including requiring disclosure of specified information to consumers,
maintaining records, and maintaining a permanent business address,
among other provisions. Existing law provides that a violation of the
laws regulating ticket sellers is a misdemeanor.  
   This bill would repeal and revise these provisions to regulate
ticket issuers and resale ticket agents, as defined, regarding, among
other things, restrictions placed on the resale of event tickets,
consumer protection requirements, and the imposition of civil
penalties based on a violation of these provisions. The bill would
further provide that a person who intentionally uses software to
circumvent a measure on a ticket issuer's or resale ticket agent's
website that is used to ensure an equitable ticket buying process is
guilty of a misdemeanor.  
   Because this bill would create a new crime, it would impose a
state-mandated local program.  
   The California Constitution requires the state to reimburse local
agencies and school districts for certain costs mandated by the
state. Statutory provisions establish procedures for making that
reimbursement.  
   This bill would provide that no reimbursement is required by this
act for a specified reason.  
   Existing law provides a comprehensive scheme for the regulation of
ticket sellers and, among other things, requires ticket sellers, as
defined, to have a permanent business address from which tickets may
only be sold, to include that address in advertisements, and to be
licensed, as specified.  
   This bill would make technical, nonsubstantive changes to that
provision. 
   Vote: majority. Appropriation: no. Fiscal committee:  no
  yes  . State-mandated local program:  no
  yes  .


THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:

   SECTION 1.    Chapter 21 (commencing with Section
22500) of Division 8 of the   Business and Professions Code
  is repealed. 
   SEC. 2.    Chapter 21 (commencing with Section 22500)
is added to Division 8 of the   Business and Professions
Code   , to read:  
      CHAPTER 21.  TICKET ISSUERS AND RESALE TICKET AGENTS


   22500.  For purposes of this chapter:
   (a) "Event" means any concert, theatrical performance, sporting
event, exhibition, show, or similar scheduled activity taking place
in the state that is open to the general public, for which an
admission fee is charged, and that is held in a venue accommodating
more than 1,000 people, including, but not limited to, venues for
which public funding has been provided for the construction,
maintenance, or operation of the venue or any infrastructure related
thereto or that are located on property owned by a municipality or
other government entity.
   (b) "Event ticket" means any physical, electronic, or other form
of a certificate, document, voucher, token, or other evidence
indicating that the bearer, possessor, or person entitled to
possession through purchase or otherwise has either a revocable or
irrevocable right, privilege, or license to enter an event venue or
occupy a particular seat or area in a venue with respect to one or
more events or an entitlement to purchase that right, privilege, or
license with respect to one or more future events.
   (c) "Person" means any natural person, partnership, corporation,
association, or other legal entity.
   (d) "Public funding" means the provision by the state, any county,
city and county, municipality, or other subdivision of the state, or
by any local development corporation or similar instrumentality
whose creation was authorized by the state or by any county, city and
county, municipality, or other subdivision of the state, of funding,
grants, payments, or financial support, including the use of public
funds through or from the use of the issuance of tax-exempt bonds,
payments in lieu of taxes, property tax abatements, lotteries, sales
taxes, or levies on parking, hotels, alcohol, car rentals,
cigarettes, or other goods or services.
   (e) "Resale" includes any form of transfer or alienation, or
offering for transfer or alienation, of possession or entitlement to
possession of an event ticket from one person to another, with or
without consideration, whether in person or by means of telephone,
mail, delivery service, facsimile, internet, e-mail, or other
electronic means. "Resale" shall not include the initial sale of an
event ticket by a ticket issuer.
   (f) "Resale ticket agent" means any person engaging in the resale
of tickets or any person providing a physical or electronic
marketplace for the sale or resale of event tickets by other persons.
A "resale ticket agent" shall not include a person who resells no
more than 80 event tickets in any 12-month period.
   (g) "Ticket issuer" means any person that makes event tickets
available, directly or indirectly for initial sale, to the general
public, and may include the operator of a venue, the sponsor or
promoter of an event, a sports team participating in an event or a
league whose teams are participating in an event, a theater company,
musical group, or similar participant in an event, or an agent of any
such person. "Ticket issuer" shall not include a person involved in,
or facilitating, event ticket resale, an officially appointed agent
of an air carrier, ocean carrier, or motor coach carrier who
purchases or sells tickets in conjunction with a tour package
accomplished through a primary event promoter or his or her agent by
written agreement, or a nonprofit charitable organization that is
exempt from tax under Section 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code.

   (h) "Venue" means the theater, stadium, field, hall, or other
facility where an event takes place.
   22501.  (a) Except as otherwise provided in this chapter, it shall
be unlawful for any ticket issuer to do any of the following:
   (1) Prohibit or restrict the resale or offering for resale of an
event ticket by a lawful possessor thereof.
   (2) Purport to impose license or contractual terms on the initial
sale of event tickets that prohibit resale of the event ticket,
including, but not limited to, terms printed on the back of a
physical event ticket, or that restrict the price or other terms and
conditions under which an event ticket may be resold or transferred.
   (3) Require the purchaser of an event ticket, whether for a single
event or for a series or season of events, to agree not to resell
the event ticket, or to resell the event ticket only through a
specific means approved by the ticket issuer.
   (4) Bring legal action based on an unlawful prohibition or
restriction on the resale of an event ticket against any of the
following:
   (A) A purchaser who resells or offers to resell an event ticket
without permission of the ticket issuer or in violation of a
restriction purportedly imposed by the ticket issuer.
   (B) A person or persons who facilitate or provide services for the
resale of event tickets without the permission of the ticket issuer
or in violation of a restriction purportedly imposed by the ticket
issuer.
   (C) An operator of a physical or electronic marketplace in which
an event ticket is offered for resale without the permission of the
ticket issuer or in violation of a restriction purportedly imposed by
the ticket issuer.
   (4) Impose a penalty on a ticket purchaser that resells or offers
to resell an event ticket without permission of the ticket issuer or
in violation of a restriction purportedly imposed by the ticket
issuer or treat that ticket purchaser in any material way less
favorably than a similarly situated ticket purchaser that does not
resell or offer to resell an event ticket or that complies with any
resale restrictions purportedly imposed by the ticket issuer.
   (5) Employ technological means for the purpose, or with the
foreseeable effect of, prohibiting or restricting the resale of event
tickets, including, but not limited to, issuing event tickets in an
electronic form that is not readily transferrable to a subsequent
purchaser or conditioning entry into the venue on presentation of a
token, like the original purchaser's credit card or state-issued
identification card, that cannot be readily transferred to a
subsequent purchaser.
   (6) Seek to limit or restrict the price, or to impose a minimum or
maximum price, at which an event ticket may be resold.
   (b) Except as otherwise provided in this chapter, it shall be
unlawful for a resale ticket agent or ticket issuer to fail to meet
the requirements of Section 22503.
   22502.  (a) A resale ticket agent or ticket issuer shall maintain
a toll-free telephone number for complaints and inquiries regarding
its activities in the sale or resale of event tickets.
   (b) A resale ticket agent or ticket issuer shall implement and
reasonably publicize a standard refund policy that meets the minimum
standards stated in subdivision (c).
   (c) A standard refund policy shall do the following:
   (1) Provide a consumer who purchases an event ticket a full refund
if the event is canceled before the scheduled occurrence of the
event and is not rescheduled, the event ticket received by the
purchaser is counterfeited, the event ticket is canceled by the
ticket issuer for nonpayment by the original purchaser or for any
reason other than an act or omission of the consumer, the event
ticket materially, and to the detriment of the consumer, fails to
conform to the description provided by the seller or reseller, or the
event ticket was not delivered to the consumer prior to the
occurrence of the event, unless the failure of delivery was due to
any act or omission of the consumer.
   (2) Include in a full refund the full price paid by the consumer
for the event ticket, together with any fees charged in connection
with that purchase, including, but not limited to, convenience fees,
processing fees, at-home printing charges, shipping and handling
charges, and delivery fees.
   (d) A standard refund policy may condition entitlement to a refund
upon timely return of the event ticket purchased and may include
reasonable safeguards against abuse of the policy.
   (e) Nothing in this section shall be construed to prohibit any
person subject to this section from implementing consumer protection
policies that exceed the minimum standards set forth in this section
and that are otherwise in compliance with this chapter.
   22503.  (a) (1) A resale agent or ticket issuer that violates this
chapter shall be subject to a civil action brought in the name of
the people of the State of California by the Attorney General. The
civil action may either enjoin further violation of this chapter by
the defendant or impose a civil penalty, not to exceed one hundred
thousand dollars ($100,000), in a amount equal to the greater of the
actual monetary loss suffered by those residents of the state or an
amount determined under paragraph (2). Payment of the civil penalty
shall be made pursuant to the provisions of subdivision (c) of
Section 17206.
   (2) The amount of damages determined under this paragraph shall be
calculated by multiplying the number of violations of this chapter
by an amount not greater than one hundred dollars ($100). For the
purposes this section, each ticket sold or offered for sale in
violation of this chapter shall constitute a separate violation.
   (3) Notwithstanding the civil penalty limitation in paragraph (1),
a court may increase a civil penalty to an amount equal to not more
than three times the amount otherwise available under this
subdivision if the defendant was previously found to have violated
this chapter in a civil action.
   (b) In the case of a successful action under subdivision (a), a
court, in its discretion, may award the costs of the action and
reasonable attorney's fees.
   (c) Any claim made under this section shall be filed with a court
of competent jurisdiction within two calendar years after the
violation.
   22504.  A person who intentionally uses or sells software to
circumvent a security measure, an access control system, or other
control or measure on a ticket issuer's or resale ticket agent's
Internet Web site that is used to ensure an equitable ticket buying
process, is guilty of a misdemeanor.
   22505.  Nothing in this chapter shall be interpreted to invalidate
restrictions on the resale of event tickets imposed by either:
   (a) Sponsors or promoters of events intended solely to benefit
charitable endeavors for which all event tickets are distributed free
of charge.
   (b) Nonprofit education institutions with respect to athletic
events involving athletes or teams of those institutions, to the
extent the restrictions apply to event tickets initially distributed
to students, faculty, staff members, or alumni without charge or to
members of a bona fide booster organization consisting of those
making substantial financial contributions to the institution.
   22506.  The Department of Consumer Affairs may issue regulations
to implement the provisions of this chapter, including, but not
limited to, regulations that do both the following:
   (a) Prescribe allowable methods for marking of public sales
tickets, including, but not limited to, the marking of event tickets
that are not tangible.
   (b) Define categories of persons otherwise subject to this section
who are temporarily or indefinitely excluded from the provisions of
this chapter, or against whom the Attorney General determines to
forebear from enforcement of the chapter in whole or in part, if the
Attorney General determines the activities of those persons have a
relatively insignificant impact on commerce in event tickets.
   22507.  A ticket seller shall maintain records of ticket sales,
deposits, and refunds.
   22508.  Nothing in this chapter prohibits any local agency from
imposing any local fees or taxes. 
   SEC. 3.    No reimbursement is required by this act
pursuant to Section 6 of Article XIII B of the California
Constitution because the only costs that may be incurred by a local
agency or school district will be incurred because this act creates a
new crime or infraction, eliminates a crime or infraction, or
changes the penalty for a crime or infraction, within the meaning of
Section 17556 of the Government Code, or changes the definition of a
crime within the meaning of Section 6 of Article XIII B of the
California Constitution.  
  SECTION 1.    Section 22500 of the Business and
Professions Code is amended to read:
   22500.  (a) A ticket seller shall have a permanent business
address from which tickets may only be sold and that address shall be
included in any advertisement or solicitation, and shall be duly
licensed as may be required by a local jurisdiction.
   (b) A violation of this section shall constitute a misdemeanor
punishable by imprisonment in a county jail not exceeding six months,
or by fine not exceeding two thousand five hundred dollars ($2,500),
or by both.
   (c) A person who engages, has engaged, or proposes to engage in a
violation of this section shall be liable for a civil penalty not to
exceed two thousand five hundred dollars ($2,500) for each violation,
which may be assessed and recovered in a civil action brought in the
name of the people of the State of California by the Attorney
General, or a district attorney, or a city attorney of a city having
a population in excess of 750,000, and, with the consent of the
district attorney, by a city prosecutor in any city, county, or city
and county having a full-time prosecutor in any court of competent
jurisdiction. Payment of the civil penalty shall be made pursuant to
the provisions of subdivision (b) of Section 17206. For the purposes
of this section, each ticket sold or offered for sale in violation of
this section shall constitute a separate violation. The remedies
provided by this section are cumulative to each other and to the
remedies or penalties available under all of the other laws of this
state.