The Internet may make stolen art items easier to sell, but italso puts the thieves at greater risk of discovery, an executivewith a theft tracking firm told members of the Inland MarineUnderwriters Association.

David Shillingford, director of marketing and operations for theArt Loss Register in New York, made his remarks at the IMUA annualmeeting last month.

He said the Internet has changed the equation in art theftinvestigations and that Internet sites like eBay and Craigslist areproviding an entirely new venue for fencing stolen art items.

“But you now have people who are searching the Internet and knowthat certain types of items belong in certain places, and they arethe kind of people who are going to run it down because they eitherknow the true ownership history or because they are scholars andwant the right things to be in the right place,” he explained.

Before the Internet era, selling a cultural item may have beenmore difficult, but the risk was relatively light that you would betracked down, Mr. Shillingford said.

Cultural items are sold across the Internet, and the onlydifference between sites is what kind of items are usually foundthere, he said. “For example, there are more antiques onCraigslist, and if you have a huge volume of anything, that stolenproperty will likely be a part of that, no matter how small apercentage,” said Mr. Shillingford.

He noted that eBay, the online auction Web site, hassuccessfully argued in court that they are a facilitator andtherefore cannot be expected to take responsibility for a trade.“But that said, the strength of their marketplace largely revolvesaround the trust between buyer and seller,” he said. “And they willtake extreme steps to ensure the level of trust between buyer andseller is as high as can be,” Mr. Shillingford added.

Art thieves trying to sell stolen items on the Internet can betracked down by investigators who know what's missing and what Websites to search.

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David Shillingford, Director of Marketing and Operations

Art Loss Register