Newman cites the ruling when discussing Batzel's suit against Cremers. "Even though AOL is a classic ISP in terms of connecting you to the Internet," he says, "it does a lot more: maintaining forums and channels. In this particular case, AOL had stepped out of the role of being pure ISP provider, but the court still applied statutory immunity." Newman completes the analogy by saying that the Museum Security Network too represents an "open forum for information" that deserves protection under the law.

But Batzel's lawyer sees things differently. "My reading of the case is that if all you do is provide a bulletin board, it's unlikely that there's any liability," says Fredman. "On the other hand, if you are carefully deciding what goes on the newsletter and adding headlines and comments, there is no exoneration of responsibility."

In other words, both sides recognize the legal distinction between a "content provider" (a publisher which is liable for content) and an "ISP" (a platform for third-party publishing which, so far, anyway, is not). The question is: Which category does the Museum Security Network fall into?

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Newman argues that the Museum Security Network qualifies as an ISP for legal purposes because it offers a neutral forum for the third-party exchange of news and information. Fredman counters that the Network is more of a content provider, since Cremers has a hand in the selection process and posts an occasional moderator's note.

Along with testing the boundaries of Internet case law, this issue strikes at the heart of the Museum Security Network's enterprise. If Fredman is right, Cremers' involvement with the newsletter will leave him vulnerable in a court of law. But it's precisely this human touch that readers appreciate. Cremers was honored by the Smithsonian this year for launching the site; his involvement in the newsletter clearly adds value over the automatic news alert that, say, a software program could generate.

Even Cremers' loudest critics, who were quick to question his publishing of Smith's letter, sound supportive. When contacted for this story, Atkins at the Museum of Fine Arts in Boston said he used to read the Museum Security Network for "articles on art sales, art theft, art smuggling, art forgeries, etc. from all over the world. ... As an added bonus, I found that there was a lot of contribution from a cast of regular characters and others who happened upon the site for professional advice and suggestions. I thought that it was a great site and a friendly atmosphere."

Merkel, a partner in a Chicago public relations firm who just sold a novel on Nazi-looted art to Penguin, agrees. While he reiterates his warning to the Museum Security Network about "serving as 'cop on the beat,'" he also praises the newsletter as "a valuable tool, particularly for helping alert museum security professionals to the ongoing news of art thefts -- more occur than you might think."

Cremers himself received similar endorsements this March, when he asked his readers for feedback on the service. He was overwhelmed by the response: "Within two days, I heard from 176 subscribers from all over the world, from UNESCO to ICOM (International Council of Museums) in Paris," he says. Almost all comments were raves.

Whether or not the endorsements help Cremers' case, they do underscore the ambitiousness, and vulnerability, of his project. The international black market for art and antiques is sprawling (recent estimates put it at $6 billion to $10 billion annually, almost as large as the legitimate art market), and tracking the stolen goods is no easy feat. A news bulletin about stolen art is the kind of service that the Internet in general, and the Museum Security Network in particular, was born to deliver.

Now, saddled with the defamation lawsuit, the Museum Security Network's strengths have become liabilities. Cremers' involvement in the site could prove his Achilles' heel, suggesting that an automated service is safer. Likewise, the newsletter's international reach could pull the Netherlands citizen straight into U.S. federal court, suggesting that the Web venture would do better to keep its readership low and local. While the lawyers debate the definition of an ISP, the future of Cremers' newsletter -- and with it one model for online publishing -- hangs in the balance.

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