So just short of a month ago, the Restaurant Reservation Anti-Piracy Act was passed in NY. (See article here). Looks like the governor signed it into law (here?%20%2D%20Summary,for%20violations%20of%20such%20prohibition)). As we know, the buying/selling of reservations at hot restaurants in NYC is a huge problem and this act is supposed to crack down on it. But I just checked Appointment Trader and it's still fully up and running.
Does anyone know when and how this new act is going to take effect and how it will impact the third-party buying/selling of reservations? Would love to be able to start getting tables without competing with bots.
by miffymato
8 Comments
My guess is it will be like Airbnb. Removes the obvious options but people who really want to do it will find a way.
Good. Had some weirdo from this sub messaging me unprompted trying to sell me a Titania res. Blocked and reported
I don’t think it’s actually been signed by the governor yet. If you look at the 2nd link you posted, it still has two steps left (in the diagram near the top, there are two blank bubbles that haven’t yet been colored in blue). I think the last two steps are delivered to governor and signed by governor.
Here’s an example of a recently fully signed bill: https://www.nysenate.gov/legislation/bills/2023/S8900/amendment/original
There’s no way to know if it was booked by bots or a real human. The bots all look like human accounts. A person would just rotate through multiple accounts to book multiple reservations then turn around and sell them. They can also obfuscate their identity when selling so there’s no way to track them down. The FBI took years to track down silk road. I doubt someone in NYPD has the capability and budget to go after these people. Plus if the person is living locally and selling locally, it’s not really an FBI matter.
This law is not technically informed but it does pavd the road for more stringent laws.
This seems to allow humans to book and sell still.
Well Amex basically has a monopoly on reservations now so you’re bound to be fucked either way.
I think it going to be like NYC jay walking law
I hate to say it, but the headline of the second link is misleading:
“New York Passes Bill to Make the Restaurant Reservation Black Market Illegal”
The law targets bots scooping up mass amounts of reservations. This law has no bearing on individual humans selling their reservations to individual humans at a premium.
election year. there is no way this is enforceable. most of the bot owners are outside of the united states anyway