Virtual Afterlives Vex Lawmakers 

When people die, they leave all kinds of mementoes. For most of us, it’s manageable, if not emotionally trying to go through the photos, the old letters, the possessions and decide what goes to charity, gets inherited, gets tossed.

These days, that process is complicated by the existence of Facebook and Google+ pages, which compiles many possessions in a digital format. So far, laws cover how loved ones can manage the remaining physical objects  left behind after a death. But what of the virtual ones?

Several states are trying to deal with that question now. Oklahoma was the first. That law allows friends and relatives — and most importantly, the executor of an estate — to get control of Facebook accounts (provided the deceased lived in the state). Nebraska is proposing a similar measure, and there is some preliminary work on it being done in Oregon. In New York there is a proposal to name a “digital executor” before you die.

Connecticut, Rhode Island and Indiana have laws that cover email and electronic files, but it’s far from clear whether those laws cover Facebok as well.

keep reading

Source: news.discovery.com

61 notesShowHide

  1. tinman-romancer reblogged this from discoverynews
  2. companioncube76 reblogged this from discoverynews
  3. reagan-was-a-horrible-president reblogged this from truth-has-a-liberal-bias
  4. jaesauce reblogged this from truth-has-a-liberal-bias
  5. truth-has-a-liberal-bias reblogged this from discoverynews
  6. ilyke2rite reblogged this from discoverynews
  7. probablyfiction reblogged this from discoverynews
  8. quadrillion reblogged this from discoverynews
  9. words-apart reblogged this from discoverynews and added:
    Wow…the notion...“digital executor” (designated to
  10. that-guy-james reblogged this from discoverynews
  11. awkward0w1 reblogged this from discoverynews
  12. shrineart reblogged this from discoverynews
  13. nellnelle reblogged this from discoverynews
  14. inexchangeforyoursoul reblogged this from kyuubeymon
  15. iamgrady reblogged this from discoverynews and added:
    I was just thinking about this last night.
  16. dontstepinmypuddle reblogged this from discoverynews
  17. kyuubeymon reblogged this from discoverynews
  18. fightyourmisery reblogged this from discoverynews