Footnotes 2/2/2010

• UNESCO wisely calls for a ban in the trade of Haitian artifacts to prevent looting.
• A Korean civic group will appeal a French Court's decision holding looted Korean royal texts to be French public material because they have been in France for over 140 years.
• Over 3,000 people have signed a petition to cease the break up of a musical instrument collection at the V&A Museum in London.
• Funding for the Arts will hold steady under Obama's budget.
• The FBI has paid Ted Gardiner, the Utah antiquities dealer and undercover operative in a federal bust of artifact trading, a total of $224,000 for his cooperation in the investigation.
• The Egyptian Parliament amended Egypt's antiquities law, which forbids trade in antiquities but allows possession of antiquities with some individuals.
• Seven people, including a pastor, were held in Chennai, India for smuggling antique idols.
• According to Noah Charney, stolen art is the 3rd most illegally trafficked item after drugs and guns, and is used by organized criminals for bargaining.
• Author of Among Thieves, David Hosp is interviewed and discusses what being an art thief must be like.