“Stopping Grinch Bots Act” To Help Prevent Scalper Bulk Buying

The PS5 and Xbox Series X|S are in high demand. Both Sony and Microsoft’s consoles sell out almost immediately after their release often because of scalpers. To combat this, a group of Democratic lawmakers in the United States has created the “Stopping Grinch Bots Act,” which will criminalize and effectively prohibit bulk, automated purchasing.

Scalpers have been sharp to boast about their console acquisition ability. This is a public relations advantage for them, and they’ve jumped on it right away. This, paired with disgruntled customers anxious to get their hands on the latest gaming devices, has led some to conclude that scalping is to blame for the vast percentage of new console purchases. Recently, US lawmakers had written the “Stopping Grinch Bots Act” to help combat this practice.

Stopping Grinch Bots Act

Bots can bypass many e-commerce platforms’ identity-verification processes. They may search and collect merchandise at astounding volumes. This prevents giving a fair chance to average human customers during shopping “rush” events like Black Friday and Holiday deals.

• The statute also appears to give the Federal Trade Commission the authority to classify these actions as illegal unequal or manipulative acts or practices and to prosecute the perpetrators.
• Most consumer advocacy organizations, such as the Consumer Federation of America and Consumer Reports, have endorsed the bill, which they see as a common-sense measure to safeguard average buyers.

Although all of this makes sense, it’s worth noting that this is not a first that Congress has attempted and was unable to pass policy to address this issue. This measure has been proposed multiple times by the same group of members of Congress. In 2018, there was the Stopping Grinch Bots Act, and in 2019, there was one with the same name. Both of them failed.

Let’s hope it’s not the case this time. The production instability, greater dependence on online purchasing, and accompanying growth of bot operation have brought this concern to the forefront of customers’ thoughts as they scramble to get their hands on the most sought-after Christmas gifts of the season.

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