Your Online Life After Death

Take a second and think about all your online accounts. If you include email accounts, banks, dating sites, social networking, sky miles accounts, credit cards, memberships, rewards cards, etc, there are simply too many accounts to keep track of. Tech Radar reported that people have an average of twenty-six to forty online accounts. Now think about what would happen to those accounts if something happened to you.

This week Google unveiled its Inactive Account Manager, a new feature which allows its members to indicate what they would like to happen to their accounts after a period of inactivity. Users can set their online data to self-destruct or assign their data to trusted loved ones who will be contacted after the period of inactivity with access to the account. This new feature has been likened to an online will and its about time Google address this issue of what happens to our online lives after death.


Our online lives often continue on after death because of the issues of access. Imagine how daunting it is be for someone to track down all your online accounts and profiles without personal knowledge of where you have created them. Obviously, for accounts that are shared with your significant other, access is not an issue but friends and families face a huge problem for personal accounts, especially for peripheral membership. Loved ones are often left to manage or close accounts on their own without much direction of how many and where they are.

One woman resorted to seeking help from ABC News to get her late husbands profile removed from Facebook. Facebook refused to provide her access to the account and would only agree to "memorialize" the account; in effect leaving it up but making it private to friends only. Even after sending Facebook her husband's death, birth, and marriage certificates, and even a portion of his will to prove he had died, only after ABC's involvement was his profile actually deleted.

Facebook's policy hasn't changed with the procedures for members who have died still being fairly complicated. It still opts to memorialize profiles of its deceased members, it will not provide password information, but now with the proper documentation Facebook will delete an account.


States are beginning to slowly catch up; in February, Virginia's legislature joined five other states by passing a law that gave parents of deceased minors access to their social media accounts.

HOW TO MANAGE YOUR ONLINE PROFILE AFTER DEATH
Preparing for this if the best solution. Tell your loved ones whether you want your profiled deleted and create a creating an inventory of online accounts and passwords for loved ones to use to make accessing your accounts easy. There are many online services that provide a solution for this problem. While it may be easy to sign up, register or join as a member on many websites, the challenge comes when loved ones want to delete those accounts. Make it as easy as possible by treating your online life as part of the estate planning process. Take a look at this great site that explores more of these issues: http://www.digitalpassing.com/about/

Social Media Use by Attorneys and Law Firms

            The internet has fundamentally changed the way we interact on a daily basis. Though relatively new, social media has become a tool many businesses and individuals use in their professional lives. Platforms, like Facebook and Twitter, vary but all have a common purpose of facilitating interactions between users. The legal community has struggled with how to address the ethical concerns associated with the use of social media sometimes debating whether social media should be used within its profession at all.[1] 

            Utah’s Ethics Advisory Committee recently issued an unofficial advisory opinion to provide judges with guidance in their use of Social Media. The opinion provides some help to attorneys as well. Attorneys and judges should be cautious but they should not immediately shy away from using social media as part of their practice.While social media has been associated with a younger generation, it has expanded to include people of all ages and professions, including attorneys and judges[2]. 
           The nature of how one may “use” social media varies extensively. Many individuals in the legal community, lawyers and judges alike, are not members of any social media platform. Others may have an account or membership on multiple websites. For those who do have social media accounts, the level of individual participation on social media can vary vastly. Use on social media can range from those who have an account per se but are inactive users rarely visit the social media website; while active users may visit and participate regularly online.[3] “Active observers” may regularly visit their social media account but never actually engaging others on it; rather they use it as a tool to monitor or keep updated on the activity of others.[4] Moreover, a social media account may also serve different purposes for different individuals. Some users may limit their interactions to close family and friends as a way to keep in touch, while others use social media as a networking and business development tool to meet new people and potential clients.

There is nothing inherently inappropriate about social media use, but how you use it. Attorneys conduct is no more acceptable if it takes place online, it is just another form of technology. Social media use is not for everyone, but a basic understanding will allow you  to know why it is or is not useful for your practice. It’s important to identify your goals and understand the fundamental aspects social media; only after learning the tool, can it become useful.

---

[1] Steven Seidenberg, Seduced, A.B.A. J., Feb 1, 2011, at 48 available at http://www.abajournal.com/magazine/article/seduced_for_lawyers_the_appeal_of_social_media_is_obvious_dangerous/.

[2] Seidenberg, supra note 1.

[3] See generally, Mary Madden, Older Adults and Social Media, Pew Internet & American Life Project (2010) available at http://pewinternet.org/Reports/2010/Older-Adults-and-Social-Media.aspx.

[4] See e.g. Stephanie Francis Ward, Justice Breyer’s on Twitter & Facebook, But Don’t Count on Him Friending You, A.B.A. J. (Apr 14, 2011) available at http://www.abajournal.com/news/article/breyer_on_facebook_but_dont_count_on_him_friending_you/ (explaining that he has an account of Facebook and Twitter); James Vicini, U.S. Supreme Court Justice Breyer on Twitter, Reuters (April 14, 2011) available at http://blogs.reuters.com/talesfromthetrail/2011/04/14/u-s-supreme-court-justice-breyer-on-twitter/ (explaining that he has a twitter account but he does not actively engage with the public on it and uses it as an “active observer).

Copyright Office Issues 2011-2013 Priorities

The Copyright Office published its list of priorities this week, highlighting area's it will focus on for the next few years. Hollywood Reporter provided a great summary of some of the legal entertainment issues that will be affected.

Among the priorities for the Copyright Office will be looking into various ways to address the high cost of copyright infringement claims with the possibility of a small claims court solution. The Register of Copyrights, Maria Pallante, stated an examination of issues which arise in book digitization, illegal streaming, public performance in sound recordings, orphan works, and more.

Of course these issues will affect the public in ways that are, as of now, unforeseen but take a look at the list of priorities below, or the full report here, and don't forget to provide input by the deadlines listed!

STUDIES

Small Claims Solutions For Copyright Owners

Initial public comments are due January 16, 2012. Anticipated publication date: October 2013. www.copyright.gov/docs/smallclaims

Legal Treatment Of Pre-1972 Sound Recordings

Publication date: December 2011. www.copyright.gov/docs/sound

Mass Book Digitization

Publication date: October 2011.  www.copyright.gov/docs/massdigitization

LEGISLATIVE WORK

Rogue Websites

Congress is exploring ways to provide more effective legal tools to address online  infringement of U.S. books, films, music, and software, including infringement that originates overseas.

Illegal Streaming 

Public Performance Right In Sound Recordings

Orphan Works -  www.copyright.gov/orphan

Copyright Exceptions For Libraries

Market-Based Licensing For Cable And Satellite Retransmission - www.copyright.gov/docs/section302

TRADE AND FOREIGN RELATIONS            

World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO)

Trans-Pacific Partnership And Other Trade Priorities

PRIORITIES IN ADMINISTRATIVE LAW PRACTICE

Prohibition On Circumvention Of Measures Controlling Access To Copyrighted Works

Initial public comments on the current (de novo) rulemaking process are due December 1, 2011. Reply comments will be due in February 2012 and hearings will be conducted in the spring of 2012. www.copyright.gov/1201

Electronic System For The Designation Of Agents Under The DMCA

Initial public comments are due November 28, 2011, and reply comments are due December 27, 2011.

www.copyright.gov/onlinesp/NPR

Review Of Group Registration Options

The Office expects to announce various group registration proposals in the first half of 2012.

Registration Options For Websites And Other Forms Of Digital Authorship

The Office intends to engage in consultations with stakeholders and seek public comment on possible solutions and decisions in 2012.

Electronic Administration Of The Statutory Licenses

Proposals will be published in 2012.

Recording Notices Of Termination Of Copyright Transfers

The Office intends to seek public comment on additional measures under section 203 that would provide parties with guidance in determining when a Gap Grant was “executed” under the law during 2012. www.copyright.gov/docs/termination

SPECIAL PROJECTS

Revision Of The Compendium Of Copyright Office Practices  

Anticipated publication date: October 2013. www.copyright.gov/compendium

Technical Upgrades To Electronic Registration

Dialogues And Roundtables With Copyright Community

Research Partnerships with Academic Community

The Office will begin seeking proposals in 2012.

Revision Of Copyright Office Website

Development work for the website will be a priority during calendar year 2012 and will include opportunities for public comment.

Public Outreach And Copyright Education

The office has the goal implementing a series of new education projects during 2012 and 2013.

Business Process Reengineering Of Recordation Division

Meetings will  take place during an 18-month period starting in November 2011 and will inform the Register’s strategic plan for this important public service.

Public Access To Historical Records

The Copyright  Office will also engage experts through a specialized project blog beginning in November

2011. www.copyright.gov/digitization

Skills Training For Copyright Office Staff