State Rep. Mike Harris on Wednesday urged his colleagues on the House Judiciary Committee to support his bipartisan plan to crack down on bots circumventing online purchase limits and buying large numbers of event tickets to sell for a profit.

House Bills 4262 and 4263, introduced by Harris, R-Waterford, and Rep. Mike McFall, D-Hazel Park, are often known as the “Taylor Swift” bills, given the severe use of ticket bots to buy up tickets for Swift concerts.

“Greedy individuals use ‘Treacherous’ bots to break online purchase rules, buy out event tickets, and then rip off people trying to enjoy a fun night out,” Harris said. “Taylor Swift fans know this frustration ‘All Too Well’ — the Eras Tour turned into the tear-your-hair-out tour as Swifties hunted down tickets and paid outrageous prices to get them. ‘Call It What You Want,’ but everyone knows this is a huge problem. By banning ticket bots, our bipartisan plan will let music and comedy fans have ‘The Best Day’ without paying an arm and a leg to bad actors.”

HBs 4262 and 4263 would authorize the Michigan Department of Attorney General to pursue legal action against individuals or groups circumventing online ticket purchasing limits through the use of automated bots. Anyone who violates the law would face penalties — civil fines of up to $5,000 per ticket fraudulently obtained.

“Steep penalties against ticket bot operators will not only punish the cheating scalpers who rip off concertgoers and comedy fans, but they will also deter aspiring extortionists,” Harris said. “Preventing the wrongdoing in the first place is ‘Better Than Revenge.’”

There is a growing national consensus to create state-level consumer protection legislation against the use of bots for ticket purchasing. Several states, like Arizona and Iowa, have passed or are advancing similar pieces of legislation. Federal law also restricts ticket bots, and the state-level ban will enable state law enforcement to address the problem, too.

An identical bill package passed the House last session with bipartisan support but did not move out of Seante committee.

HBs 4262 and 4263 remain under consideration by the House Judiciary Committee.