Does your will include gifting your ebooks?

[Lynx-lynx]

Interesting Article on ABC21 last night: Bereaved push for greater access to loved one's social media, email accounts. http://www.abc.net.au/news/2015-01-0...counts/6002826

'Knowing what to do with the treasure chest of information left behind online can be difficult for the relatives of people who pass away.

Some estimates suggest up to 30 million of the 1.3 billion Facebook users are actually dead. "Every day, 8,000 Facebook users die around the world," Tasmanian wills and estates lawyer Kimberley Martin told [ABC21] 7.30 [Current Affairs program].

Each of them leaves behind a digital record of their life, complete with photographs, videos and past conversations, but it can be difficult for loved ones to gain access to these accounts once they are no longer in use.'

rest of article:

Spoiler:

In October 2012, 29-year-old British soldier Edward Drummond-Baxter was killed in an insider attack during his first deployment to Afghanistan, but his Facebook account lived on.

His sister Emily then had to write to Facebook with proof of her brother's death - a death certificate and news clippings - before she could take over his account.

She also tried to take over his email account to access important documents relating to his estate, but Google refused to reveal his password for privacy reasons.

In some US states, such as Delaware, there is a push by governments to force companies like Google to give families access to the accounts of relatives who have died.

Ms Martin said Australia should follow suit. "I think laws like this are important because without some sort of guidance, not only do lawyers struggle to know what road to take and where to look for the right information but people who are trying to deal with these things on the frontline after somebody has died have no idea what to do," she said.

Many of her clients are now taking matters into their own hands by including in their will a list of passwords for their email, banking and social media accounts.

This allows the executor of their estate to shut down those accounts and effectively wipe them from the web. Ms Martin is increasingly drafting wills that include instructions on how to manage a person's so-called "digital assets". "Directions to delete all personal files off a person's computer is one will I have drafted recently," she said.
"Directions to remove all photos of a personal nature and provide a copy via USB to different family members, is another."

The fraud angle:

Spoiler:

Brian Hay from the Queensland Police Fraud and Cyber Crime Squad said a forgotten Facebook page or email account could be hacked and used for identity theft.

"It is an Aladdin's cave of criminality because you have everything at your disposal that you need to commit crimes," he told 7.30. He said the dead are easy targets because nobody is monitoring their accounts.

"The reality is you are more vulnerable because you can't speak up and say hang on, that new addition to that page is not me, that information is no longer about me or my family."

He cautioned people against leaving behind a large digital footprint after death but not all internet users want their digital life to die with them.

The distribution of pre-recorded messages from 'the dead' to current user accounts:

Spoiler:

There is growing demand for services like Dead Social, which distributes pre-recorded messages to relatives of a person who has died, for years to come.

According to Dead Social's website, the messages can be timed to arrive on birthdays, anniversaries and other milestones.

Another service, LivesOn, which is still in development, could enable Twitter uses to continue "tweeting" after they die.

The technology captures every tweet sent from the account and splices them together to create new tweets.

LivesOn's motto is: "When your heart stops beating, you'll keep tweeting."

Dr Michael Arnold from Melbourne University says the way people interact with the dead is changing. "Some people would find that absolutely creepy but not everybody," he said.
"Think for example of the number of people who use a deceased person's voicemail message over and over again. "They know they're dead, they know it's simply a recording, but it's a comfort to hear that person's voice.
"Similarly, it can be a comfort for some people to continue to receive tweets, to continue to receive emails."

[Lynx-lynx]

I don't think leaving a copy of all your passwords with your Will information properly deals with password release for relatives and significant others because we all need to change our passwords too frequently for that to be effective. Another solution is required such as having a master password file which is updated each time we change our passwords and create a new account for whatever. But then where to leave that is an issue of its own.

Leaving instructions in one's Will as to the distribution of digital property makes sense as part of the divvying out of the proceeds, but will of course only work if the various passwords are known. And bugger copyright is my view on that. The person's dead and their property ought to be distributed to the living. (Yeah, I know the flak will fly because I stated the bleeding obvious!)

But the thing that gets me is the notion of continuing to send messages to people once you're d e a d .... not my cup of tea to either send any messages nor to want to receive any!

So books, paper and ebooks should be distributed without qualm as well.

Edit
And imagine Twitter messages being sent out from the d e a d ... will they be prefaced by 'this person is dead and here's what they thought before they died'.

[Ripplinger]

It would be a simple thing if you used something like LastPass, where they would just need your one main (long, random generated and safe) password. Then once logged into your LastPass account, all information for every site you log into is there in one place, including your social sites like Twitter, Facebook, etc. as well as every site you make purchases from. That would solve the problem of leaving pages and pages of changing passwords.

[Lynx-lynx]

^ no matter what on-line method of password and account info saver we use, we've still got to contemplate the security of that site. As we know nothing seems to be secure on-line for the greater period of time. (well at the moment anyway)

I suspect the good old pen and paper method may be best - or typing up and printing out the changes and keeping it all in a folder. But then that needs to be kept somewhere secure and yet in a place that some other (nominated?) person could find it.

Another problem I foresee is someone who dies unexpectedly, and they could be young for example, and they haven't made provision for account and password info storage, and others generally don't know that info.

[HarryT]

Not an issue for ebooks. They generally can't be passed on to another person.

[Lynx-lynx]

Harry I'm making sure that I do pass them on and letting the person/s know which ebooks go to whom from Calibre on my PC. (Or whatever it is we'll all be using at the time of my demise).

And should I be capable immediately prior to my death then I will distribute all my digital stock myself.

The problem for me will only be if my death is sudden or if I'm too incapacitated to distribute my worldly goods so to speak.

And yes I understand some people may think that is improper, but I don't.

[HarryT]

Originally Posted by Lynx-lynx

Harry I'm making sure that I do pass them on and letting the person/s know which ebooks go to whom from Calibre on my PC. (Or whatever it is we'll all be using at the time of my demise).

Of course you physically CAN pass them on, but this may well be against the terms of the contract you entered into with the bookstore. You need to read the bookstore's T&C's and see if it's permitted (or ask them).

[pdurrant]

This is one of those questions that has yet to be settled. I suspect that the law may eventually come down on the side of digital libraries being assets that can be passed on, but I agree that it's not clear.

Of course, until someone beings a case that clarifies the law, one is at the mercy of the company that holds one's digital library.

[Lynx-lynx]

Originally Posted by pdurrant

This is one of those questions that has yet to be settled. I suspect that the law may eventually come down on the side of digital libraries being assets that can be passed on, but I agree that it's not clear.

Of course, until someone beings a case that clarifies the law, one is at the mercy of the company that holds one's digital library.

Which of course then begs the further question as to whether the store that you bought the ebooks from is still in business at the time of one's demise .....

[cromag]

Another reason I keep copies of my library backed-up to physical media.

[Lynx-lynx]

^ exactly. I shan't have any problems distributing my digital assets at all. (Provided I'm still capable)

[Lynx-lynx]

But I'm more curious how people are going to deal with this Will aspect .... are you going to include distribution of digital assets in your Will.

Ignore the law for the time being because that may or may not change by the time of one's demise - I'm more interested in how you propose to organise for it after your death.

[burnafterreading]

AFAIK, when you buy an ebook you're not buying a product but rather a non-transferable license to use a product (see T&C that you "read and agreed to"). when you expire, so does your license. you can have the ereader device in your will, but not a license.

just like when you die, your kids can inherit your car, but not your driver's license. it's the exact same concept.

[HarryT]

Originally Posted by Lynx-lynx

Ignore the law for the time being because that may or may not change by the time of one's demise - I'm more interested in how you propose to organise for it after your death.

The easiest way to do it would be to have DRM-stripped versions of all the material on a physical medium such as a memory stick or DVD. That removes all issues with needing access to online accounts.

[Lynx-lynx]

So Harry would you specify in your Will what you wanted digitally to go to whom?

I find it a rather interesting question but then Wills and Will distribution are always interesting (and vexed and often litigious )