What we are up Against

Wayne Sayles on The Law and Ultra Vires ( Ancient Coin Collecting Saturday, April 22, 2017):

For the first two decades after enactment, CCPIA worked as intended and focused on serious threats to Cultural Heritage. Midway in the first decade of this century there were warning signs that change was afoot. The Archaeological community theme that "Collecting equals Looting", championed by Lord Colin Renfrew, had by then become a cult-like mantra. A radical element dominated much of academia and Archaeological Institute of America leadership—and still does. What had for centuries been a productive alliance between professionals and amateurs evolved into a bitter struggle as Archaeologists became infatuated with control and dominance over what they envisioned as "their" turf. They were very well positioned to infiltrate and influence government agencies based on their credentials, social standing and natural affinity for institutional networking. It didn't take long for the protections that Congress wrote into CCPIA to vanish. By 2007, with bureaucratic intervention, the emphasis had shifted from protection of significant objects of cultural heritage to control of virtually all objects made in antiquity and well into the 18th century. The objects are targeted in a laundry list of items defined as "Cultural Property" in the UNESCO Convention, including even postage stamps over 100 years old.

More here.