Illegal Trade in Antiquities: The Legal and Practical Impact of Social Media and Cryptocurrency

拟议的研究旨在解决技术进步如何影响文物在古董市场上的非法流动。项目重点关注在区块链技术支持下的社交媒体发展所改变的销售链。这项研究将查明妨碍执法机构跨国合作的国际和国内立法中的管理空白和缺陷。管辖范围将包括伊拉克和意大利作为两个来源市场，说明不同的监管水平，以及英国和美国作为目的地市场。从科技进步的角度审视非法买卖，可以找出适当的阻吓措施，防止这类交易，长远而言，更能有效地保护文化遗产。问题和重要性考虑到现场贩运而制定的现有预防措施不适用于因使用社交媒体和bb0而改变的销售链。监管机构倾向于建立破坏三阶段市场链的措施，为文化商品的流动留下数字空间（Fedotov, 2017）。私人社交媒体平台出于个人隐私要求，禁止收集任何相关用户数据。因此，缺乏公共透明度阻碍了承担责任和充分的政府干预。此外，由于大众传播的便利，潜在买家的范围以及对古董的需求大大增加。这种情况使得社交网站获得了对艺术市场的自由裁量权。信息流和随后增加的广告能力促进了区块链和加密货币进行无痕迹销售。由于数字货币的设计不受政府监管，现有的立法措施不足以阻止文化商品的非法流动。艺术市场的社会法律结果发生了变化，将一个有线世界转变为一个成熟的虚拟化社会。因此，需要重新确定后果，而不是使用笼统和过时的数据，以支持解决有关非法古物移动的未决法律问题。方法实证研究应包括定量和定性方法，如历史概述、案例研究、观察和访谈。历史研究将试图通过调查过去的事件来了解非法贸易的动态，以便确定文化商品消费者之间的既定行为模式。实际上，识别监管的缺陷将揭示适当的案例进行研究。随后，个案研究将调查从伊拉克和意大利到美国和联合王国的非法流动个案，以便审查这些现象的原因和对这一问题的整体处理办法。通过收集用户在这些网站上建立联系的数据，参与社交媒体平台，将有助于识别通信分散方法。实证研究将通过对参与这些公司自我监管的专业人士的直接访谈，对具有代表性的社交媒体和b区块链公司进行。此外，询问从事文化遗产保护的执法机构，然后进行数据分析，将有助于揭示个人或组织与卖家之间的关系。

The research proposed aims to tackle how technological advancements influence the illegal movement of cultural artefacts on the market for antiquities. The project shall concentrate on the chain of sale as altered by the development of social media supported by blockchain technology. The research will identify regulatory gaps and shortcomings within international and domestic legislation preventing transnational cooperation of enforcement bodies. The jurisdictional spectrum will cover Iraq and Italy as two source markets exemplifying contrasting regulatory levels and the United Kingdom and the United States as destination markets. Examining illegal sale from the perspective of technological advancements will offer the possibility of identifying appropriate deterrent measures to prevent such transactions and, in the long term, allow to protect cultural heritage effectively.Problem and ImportanceThe existent preventive measures created with the on-ground trafficking in mind are not applicable to the chain of sale as altered by the usage of social media and blockchain. The regulatory bodies tend to focus on establishing measures disrupting the three-stage market chain, leaving the digital space open for the flow of cultural commodities (Fedotov, 2017). Private social media platforms prevent any relevant users data from being collected due to the personal privacy requirements. As a result, lack of public transparency averts assumption of responsibility and adequate governmental intervention. Moreover, by facilitating mass communication, the extent of potential buyers and, consequently, demand for antiquitieshas grown considerably. Such a state of matters has allowed social networking sites to acquire a discretionary power over the art market. The information flow and subsequent increased advertising capabilities has promoted engaging blockchain and cryptocurrencies to conduct sales tracelessly. As digital currencies have been designed to remain outside the governmental regulations, the existent legislative measures are insufficient to prevent illegal movement of cultural commodities. Socio-legal outcomes for the art market have shifted by turning a wired world into a mature virtualized society. Hence, re-identifying the consequences, not using generalised and outmoded data, is needed to support resolvingpending legal issues around illegal antiquities movement.MethodologyEmpirical research shall be undertaken comprising quantitative and qualitative methods such as historical outline, case study, observation and interview. Historical research will attempt to understand the dynamics of illegal trade by looking into past events in order to determine established patterns of behaviour among consumers of cultural commodities. In effect, identifying shortcomings of regulations will reveal appropriate cases to examine. Subsequently, case study shall look into individual instances of illicit movements from Iraq and Italy to the United States and UnitedKingdom, in order to examine causes for the phenomena and holistic approach to the issue. Engagement with social media platforms by collecting data on users establishing contact on these sites will enable identification of communication dispersion methods. Empirical research will be conducted on a representative group of social media and blockchain companies by means of direct interviews with professionals involved in self-regulation of these firms. Moreover, questioning law enforcement bodies engaged in the protection of cultural heritage, followed by the data analysis, will enable uncovering relationships between individuals, or organisations, and sellers.