Clause 29 - Sale of Tickets
London Olympics Bill
12:15 pm
Richard Caborn (Minister of State (Sport), Department for Culture, Media & Sport; Sheffield Central, Labour)
Amendment No. 98 provides that the offence of ticket touting in clause 29 may be committed outside the UK. The intention is to target internet touting in particular and to provide a deterrent against those minded to move their unlawful business offshore to evade liability.
Amendment No. 97 clarifies the position in relation to ticket touting via the internet. It provides internet service providers with defences to ensure that they are not accused unfairly of being an accessory to our new ticket touting offence, while also ensuring that the defences do not allow web companies to turn a blind eye to offences that are being committed via their sites.
Such defences are required to provide effective implementation of the e-commerce directive, and are therefore required to ensure that clause 29 complies with EU law. These defences strike the right balance by ensuring that certain internet companies will not be found guilty of an offence when they have unwittingly advertised tickets for sale or have facilitated the sale of tickets, but such companies must act expeditiously to remove any information from their site that contravenes clause 29 in order to avoid liability.
We believe that the amendment strikes an appropriate balance between cracking down on people who simply turn a blind eye to offences that they are helping to facilitate, and ensuring that responsible service providers are not unfairly penalised.