Section 25.13. Licensing of ticket resellers

1.  No  person,  firm or
  corporation shall resell or engage in  the  business  of  reselling  any
  tickets  to  a  place of entertainment or operate an internet website or
  any other electronic service that provides a mechanism for two  or  more
  parties  to  participate  in  a  resale  transaction or that facilitates
  resale transactions by the means of  an  auction,  or  own,  conduct  or
  maintain  any  office,  branch  office, bureau, agency or sub-agency for
  such business without having first procured a license or certificate for
  each location at which business will be conducted from the secretary  of
  state. Any operator or manager of a website that serves as a platform to
  facilitate  resale,  or  resale by way of a competitive bidding process,
  solely between third parties and does not in any other manner engage  in
  resales  of  tickets to places of entertainment shall be exempt from the
  licensing requirements of this section. The department  of  state  shall
  issue  and deliver to such applicant a certificate or license to conduct
  such business  and  to  own,  conduct  or  maintain  a  bureau,  agency,
  sub-agency,  office or branch office for the conduct of such business on
  the premises stated in such application upon the payment by or on behalf
  of the applicant of a fee of five thousand dollars and shall be  renewed
  upon  the  payment  of  a like fee annually. Such license or certificate
  shall not be transferred  or  assigned,  except  by  permission  of  the
  secretary  of  state. Such license or certificate shall run to the first
  day of January next ensuing the date thereof, unless sooner  revoked  by
  the  secretary  of  state.  Such license or certificate shall be granted
  upon a  written  application  setting  forth  such  information  as  the
  secretary  of  state  may require in order to enable him or her to carry
  into effect the provisions of this article and shall be  accompanied  by
  proof  satisfactory  to the secretary of state of the moral character of
  the applicant.
    2. No operator's agent shall sell or convey tickets to  any  secondary
  ticket reseller owned or controlled by the operator's agent.
    3.  The  operator  or  the promoter shall determine whether a seat for
  which a ticket is for sale has an obstructed view,  and  shall  disclose
  such  obstruction.  Every  sale or resale of such ticket shall include a
  disclosure of such obstructed view.
    4. If any licensee under this section demonstrates that their business
  provides a service to facilitate ticket  transactions  without  charging
  any  fees, surcharges or service charges above the established price, on
  every transaction,  except  a  reasonable  and  actual  charge  for  the
  delivery  of  tickets,  then  the  fees for licensing under this section
  shall be waived.
    * NB Effective until May 16, 2010