Stopping Grinch Bots Act of 2025
Key claim: The bill would make it illegal to use bots or similar tools to bypass a website’s purchase limits or inventory controls, and to sell goods obtained that way, with the FTC and state attorneys general able to enforce it.
Abstract
(S3516 · 119th Congress) Stopping Grinch Bots Act of 2025 This bill makes it unlawful to use tools such as bots to circumvent a website’s security or control measures related to purchasing limits or inventory management. Specifically, the bill makes it unlawful to circumvent a security measure, access control system, or other technological control or measure that a website or online service uses to enforce posted purchasing limits or manage inventory. The bill also prohibits the sale of certain products or services obtained through such a violation. The bill provides for enforcement by the Federal Trade Commission and state attorneys general or other authorized state officers. Latest action (2025-12-17): Read twice and referred to the Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation.
Why this matters
The bill would generalize the 2016 BOTS Act model—originally limited to event tickets—into an economy-wide prohibition on circumventing e-commerce purchase caps and inventory controls, expanding platforms’ compliance surface and giving FTC and state AGs a new enforcement hook against scalper resellers. For developers of automation tools and marketplaces that host resale, it signals a shift toward treating anti-bot bypass as a per-se consumer protection violation rather than a private terms-of-service matter. Status remains early: introduced and referred to committee, without floor action.