'Stopping Grinch Bots' Act Wants to End Scalpers; Twitter Reacts to Weird Name, Mission

Holiday sales are coming, and scalpers are getting ready to attack. A group of lawmakers want to stop these online bots by launching the "Stopping Grinch Bots Act."

However, despite the promising concept proposed by this bill, its weird naming sense definitely earned a few head scratches among Americans.

Instead of happy holidays, shoppers are getting ready for virtual tug-of-wars on retailer shops. But despite their best effort, most of the sales will probably be stolen by online bots, which are programmed to checkout the hottest items the second they go live.

Malicious actors behind these online bots often buy out the entire inventory of a retailer. Then they sell back these products with a ridiculously inflated price, forcing shoppers to overpay or miss out on the purchase.

Fans waiting on the PS5 and Xbox Series X are probably familiar with this tactic. Fortunately, a few government officials proposed countermeasures against this malicious scheme.

What Is 'Stopping Grinch Bots Act'

On Monday, Representative Paul Tonko, Senator Richard Blumenthal, Senate Majority Leader Charles E. Schumer, and Senator Ben Ray Lujan introduced the "Stopping Grinch Bots Act," a bicameral bill that will crack down cyber grinches using bot technology.

For reference, "The Grinch" is a childhood story about a grumpy villain who wants to spread misfortune on Christmas. Lawmakers might have linked this fictional villain to the real-life threat of cyber scammers.

According to Blumenthal, "this bill seeks to stop Cyber Grinch greed from ruining kids' holidays. New tools are needed to block cyber scammers who snap up supplies of popular toys and resell them at astronomic prices," per Tonko House.

Twitter Fans React to Weird Name

Admittedly, the "Stopping Grinch Bots Act" is a mouthful to say out loud. It's also a little confusing for people who do not recognize the fictional villain. Americans posted a lot of unique reactions for the weird bill name.

One fan felt excited because this bill could uphold the retail price for consumers.

Another fan hopes very hard that the bill would pass.

Twitter user TmarTn bursted out into laughter with the name but acknowledged the bill's potential.

Twitter user Flowman emphasized the Democrats have a "terrible" naming sense.

One fan pointed out the bill was utter nonsense.

Twitter user Hat Club also felt disappointed with the government's priorities.

Nonetheless, scammers are being warned. A bill to shut them down might be underway.

The situation is still developing, so it is undetermined whether "Stopping Grinch Bots Act" will pass or not. For now, readers are recommended to wait on the official update, which might come out in the next few weeks.