Michigan Banned Ticket Bots. One Purchase Can Now Trigger Hundreds of Fines.

What happens when a computer program buys 200 concert tickets before a family can finish entering a credit card number?

The tickets reappear at a higher price. The family either pays the markup or stays home.

Michigan answered that problem with two laws that work as a package.

Senate Bill 158, now Public Act 50, bans the ticket bot.

House Bill 4262, now Public Act 49, gives the Attorney General authority to enforce the ban.

A ticket bot is software that performs purchases automatically and faster than a person can. The new law targets software designed to impersonate human online activity in order to evade a seller's rules.

It cannot be used or created to buy more tickets than the posted limit. It also cannot be used to get around that limit through multiple accounts, email addresses, or internet addresses, or to defeat online queues, presale access controls, and ticket-security measures.

That is the consumer-protection side of the package. It targets the software advantage that can empty rows of seats before ordinary buyers have a fair chance.

The Attorney General may investigate a claim that someone violated the ticket-bot ban. HB4262 itself does not grant subpoena power, a civil investigative demand, or another form of pre-lawsuit compulsory process.

If the Attorney General takes the matter to court, the state may seek an injunction, collect civil fines, and recover money for people who were harmed. Only the Attorney General receives this enforcement authority. The package does not create a private lawsuit or a criminal penalty.

The financial exposure can grow quickly.

The civil fine is up to $5,000, and every ticket involved counts as a separate violation. A bot operation involving 200 tickets could therefore face as many as 200 separate fines. If a court imposed the maximum on every ticket, the total would reach $1 million.

The court may also require the defendant to pay the Attorney General's costs and attorney fees. The law does not provide the same fee recovery to a defendant who successfully fights the case.

That combination matters. Per-ticket fines and one-way legal fees give the state substantial settlement pressure even though the enforcement process runs through court.

The ticket-bot ban addresses a real problem that buyers recognize immediately. Automated purchasing should not be allowed to sweep up inventory by evading the same limits everyone else must follow.

The enforcement law deserves separate attention. A fine that multiplies with every seat can move from consumer protection to enormous financial exposure in a single transaction.

Michigan wrote one law to define the violation and another to determine how costly it can become. Both should be read together.

This is our read of the law. We encourage you to read it yourself and reach your own conclusions.