Taipei, March 20 (CNA) Minister of Culture Shih Che (史哲) on Monday said his ministry will draft a law amendment to help curb scalpers who use online purchasing algorithms to buy tickets in huge quantities and resell them at several times higher than the original price.
In a radio interview, Shih said the Ministry of Culture (MOC) will be working to amend the Development of the Cultural and Creative Industries Act, with the process to be completed by the end of March or early April.
His comments came after many local fans of the K-pop girl group, Blackpink, recently complained about not been able to find tickets to the Kaohsiung concerts that wrapped up over the weekend due to scalpers.
In order to curb scalping, Shih said without further elaboration that the MOC will amend the law to impose severe penalties on those who use online purchasing algorithms to buy vast quantities of tickets and resell them at inflated prices.
Scalping and the use of online purchasing algorithms to buy vast quantities of tickets are currently not covered by the said Act.
This activity, however, is mentioned under the Social Order Maintenance Act, which stipulates a fine of up to NT$18,000 for "buying transportation or entertainment tickets with no intention for use, and reselling them for profits," but the law does not include provisions regarding prevention.
On March 15, various lawmakers of the ruling Democratic Progressive Party asked the Development of the Cultural and Creative Industries Act, which governs concert ticket sales, to include punishments for scalping in order to protect the rights and interests of the public.
The fine alone is too low and is not enough to curb the act of scalping, they said, after a scalper was recently caught by police for selling a NT$8,800 (US$287) ticket for a Blackpink concert for up to four times the price at NT$36,000.
The two concerts held at the Kaohsiung National Stadium performed by Blackpink last Saturday and Sunday drew more than 90,000 spectators.
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