SENATE, No. 214

SECTION 1.  Chapter 140 of the General Laws, as appearing in the 2004 Official Edition, is hereby amended by inserting after section 184 the following section:-

            Section 184A.  The following words and phrases as used in sections 184B to 184N, inclusive, unless the context otherwise requires, shall have the following meanings:

            "Commissioner", the Commissioner of the Department of Public Safety.

"Convenience fee", an amount charged by the primary ticket broker in transactions where the ticket is provided to the consumer in a manner other than a face-to-face exchange between the consumer and the primary ticket broker or its agent and may include, but is not limited to, electronic mail or holding the ticket at a designated venue location.

"Department", Department of Public Safety.

"Face value", the price of admission as determined by the operator of the venue where the event is to take place and required to be printed on the front of the ticket.

"Fee", any amount over and above the transaction fee and the venue fee stated on the ticket invoice and charged by the primary ticket broker that causes the purchase price of the ticket to exceed face value.

"Licensee", a person or corporation licensed by the Department to act as a primary ticket broker.

"Primary ticket broker", a person or corporation engaged in the business of generating a ticket or tickets for sale either by itself or on the behalf of a venue that has contracted with the person or corporation for that purpose.

“Ticket”, a document produced in the form of paper, plastic, electronic or any medium which is generated by a primary ticket broker to authorize the ticket holder the right of entry to a venue.

"Ticket invoice", a document generated by the primary ticket broker and provided to the consumer at the time of purchase documenting the costs associated with the purchase of a specific ticket and including, but not limited to, the transaction fee; the venue fee; and any additional fees that cause the purchase price of the ticket to exceed face value.

"Transaction", a sale of a ticket or up to 10 tickets by a primary ticket broker to a consumer.

"Transaction fee", the amount charged by the primary ticket broker in excess of the face-value of the ticket that represents the cost incurred by the primary ticket broker in transacting the sale of the ticket to the consumer and which shall not exceed eight-dollars per transaction.

"Venue", the location of the event for which a ticket of admission is sold.

"Venue fee", the amount charged by the venue to cover the costs to the venue of hosting an event for which a ticket is sold and which shall not exceed three-dollars.

Section 184B.  No person or corporation shall engage in the business of selling any ticket or tickets of admission or other evidence of right of entry to any theatrical exhibition, public show, public amusement, educational, exhibition, concert, or professional or amateur sporting event or any other event or exhibition occurring in the commonwealth and required to be licensed under sections 181 and 182 of this chapter as a primary ticket broker without being licensed by the Commissioner.  The Commissioner shall establish rules and regulations regarding the information required for application of licensure, method of submitting and application and process to application; provided that each applicant must include the following information:

(a)        a copy of a business certificate if the registrant is not incorporated; or

(b)        a copy of the relevant parts of the articles of organization showing the names and addresses of all owners, partners or trustees of an applicant including, in the case of corporate entities, the names and addresses of all officers, directors and principal shareholders if the registrant is incorporated in the commonwealth or

(c)        a copy of the foreign corporation certificate of registration required to be filed with the secretary of the commonwealth pursuant to subsection three of section fifteen of chapter one hundred fifty six D if the corporation is organized under the laws of another state or country.

Section 184C.  No licensee under section 184B shall charge fees, including transaction fees, totaling more than 12 dollars for any ticket or evidence of right of entry to any theatrical exhibition, public show, public amusement, exhibition, concert, or professional or amateur sporting event of any description, convenience fees, transaction fees, and venue fees inclusive.  The licensee shall provide a ticket invoice to the consumer at the time of the transaction which shall clearly state the separate monetary amounts assessed as a convenience fee, transaction fee, venue fee and other fees charged in excess of the face-value of the ticket.  Each licensee shall record with the Department and the Division of Corporations these fees and the purpose of the fees in a clear and concise manner within 5 business days of when the fees change.  Copies of all ticket invoices shall be kept electronically at the address of record of the licensee and made available for inspection upon the request of the Commissioner or his designee. 

Section 184D.  No license under section 184B shall be issued unless and until the applicant therefor deposits with the Commissioner a bond for the faithful compliance by such applicant, as licensee, during the term of the license, with the provisions of section 184A to one-hundred 184N inclusive, such bond to run to the commonwealth in the sum of one-hundred thousand dollars and to be in force during the term of the license.

Section 184E.  Any person from whom any licensee under section 184B has unjustly withheld any ticket or charged fees in excess of those fees authorized in section 184C may, without expense to the Commonwealth, bring an action in the name of the state treasurer upon the bond of such licensee and may recover upon such bond for his own benefit up to the amount of the withheld ticket or the amount of the fees charged in excess of statutorily authorized amounts.

Section 184F.  The fee for each license granted under section 184B and for each annual renewal thereof shall be determined annually by the Commissioner of Administration and Finance under the provision of section 3B of chapter 7 according to the number of tickets sold; provided that, there shall be levels of fees based on the number of tickets sold.

Section 184G.   All licenses granted pursuant to section 184B shall be posted conspicuously in the primary ticket broker's office.  All licenses shall clearly display the primary ticket broker’s Massachusetts license number on every computer website, advertisement appearing in print, advertisement transmitted to consumers via electronic mail, and advertisement appearing on a computer shall clearly display the primary ticket broker's Massachusetts license number.  All licensees shall conspicuously display their sales and refund policies, customer service number, when the licensee is open, office address or addresses, the maximum potential fees charged per transaction in a clear and apparent manner to consumers in all licensee offices, computer website, documents mailed with tickets and electronic mails.

Section 184H.  The Commissioner shall establish and may from time to time review and change the rules and regulations relative to the granting of licenses and the business carried on by persons or corporations licensed under section 184B.  The Commissioner or the designee to whom authority is delegated by the Commissioner shall investigate the affairs of such licensees as often as the Commissioner deems necessary and for that purpose shall have access to the books, papers and electronic records of such licensees.  Failure for a licensee to provide access to said records may result in revocation of the licensee’s license or fines established under 184I.

Section 184I.  Whoever violates any provision of section 184A to section 184I, inclusive, or any rule or regulation of the Commissioner made under section 184H, shall be punished by a fine of not more than $500 for an initial violation; provided however that whoever is convicted of a second violation of section 184A to section 184L, inclusive, shall be punished by a fine of not more than $1,000; and provided further that whoever is convicted of a third and subsequent violation shall be punished by a fine of not more than $5,000, or imprisonment in a jail or house of correction for not more than 1 year, or both.  Each individual sale by a primary ticket broker to a consumer shall be considered a separate and independent transaction.      

Section 184J.   No licensee shall charge any consumer a fee from the transmission of a ticket or tickets to a consumer through any telecommunication or Internet media, including electronic mail or through a website.

Section 184K.  The Department shall collect at a time and schedule determined by the Commissioner from each licensee 5 cents on each ticket sold under sections 184B, 184N and 185A and the Department shall deposit said monies into the Ticket Sales Administration and Investigation Fund established under Section 184L.

Section 184L. There shall be a separate fund to be known as the Ticket Sales Administration and Investigation Fund which shall be sited within the Department.  The Department shall utilize said fund for the purpose of conducting administrative, investigatory and enforcement functions of sections 184A to 184K and sections 185A to 185G.  The Department shall provide an annual report before December 31 of each year on the expenditure of funds and the works completed under said sections to the Joint Committee on Consumer Protection and Professional Licensure, the House and Senate Committees on Ways and Means.

Section 184M. Each city or town may establish an area immediately around a venue whereby unlicensed primary ticket brokers and unlicensed ticket resellers may resell tickets for said venue for an event to occur on that date only at a cost not to exceed the price printed on the ticket.  The city or town shall provide for adequate security in said area, may limit the total number of tickets to be resold per person, may establish the time and dates when said transactions would occur, may require identification and verification of the persons conducting the transactions.  The city or town may not charge a fee to those participating in the resale of tickets in this area.  The primary ticket broker may not revoke a ticket holder’s tickets solely because the ticket purchased a ticket through this section.  Tickets holders whole violate this section are subject to fines and penalties under section 185F.  Each city or town that adopts this section must file its ordinance and plan with the Department.  The Department may issue guidelines to cities and towns on the implementation of this section.

Section 184N.  A corporation that provides a medium on an Internet website owned and controlled by said corporation shall be authorized to allow unlicensed ticket resellers to conduct transactions on its website and collect a fee for each transaction; provided that, said corporation is registered with the Department, provides a secure method for these transactions, discloses the corporation’s role in these transactions in a clear and conspicuous manner to the persons conducting the transactions, shall limit the number of ticket sold to Massachusetts venues to 10 transactions sold per year per person, shall keep a record of the contact information and transactions of the persons conducting ticket sales to Massachusetts venues, shall collect the fee under section 184K from each person and send the monies collected to the Department, shall not collect a fee on the total transaction of more than 25 per cent of the total transaction’s value, and shall require persons selling tickets to fully disclose shipping and other costs as part of its posting to seek buyers for tickets.  The Department shall establish rules and regulations for the implementation of this section.  Said corporations shall make available to the Department information about the sale of tickets to Massachusetts venues at the Department’s request.  Said corporations may report to the Department any person using their Internet website to conduct excessive ticket sale transactions to Massachusetts venues or primary ticket brokers or ticket resellers conducting resale of tickets on their Internet website.

SECTION 2.   Section 185D of chapter 140 of the General Laws, as appearing, is hereby amended by striking out said section and inserting in place thereof the following:-

Section 185D.  No licensee under section one 185A shall resell any ticket or other evidence of right of entry to any theatrical exhibition, public show, public amusement, educational, exhibition, concert, or professional or amateur sporting event or any other event or exhibition occurring in the commonwealth of any description at a price in excess 3 times the price printed on the face of such ticket and said price shall include any and all fees by the reseller or the primary ticket broker under section 184A, or other evidence of right of entry as the purchase price thereof.

SECTION 3.   Section 185F of chapter 140 of the General Laws, as appearing, is hereby amended by striking out said section and inserting in place therof the following new section:-

Section 185F. Whoever violates any provision of section 185A to section 185G, inclusive, or section 184M or any rule or regulation of the commissioner made under section 185E, shall be punished by a fine of not more than $1,000 per violation, by imprisonment in a jail or house of correction for not more than two and one half years, or both.