In Depth: What happens to your web stuff when you die?

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In Depth: What happens to your web stuff when you die?

                               
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Technologycan do many wonderful things, but sadly it can't stop the Grim Reaper -so what happens to your web posts when you die? Will your photos, blogsand websites still be around for your grandchildren to read, or willyour online presence disappear when you do?
The law is clearenough, as Struan Robertson, Legal Director with Pinsent Masons andEditor of OUT-LAW.com explains. "You can bequeath your copyright toothers," he says. "So I can say in my will that I'm leaving all myrights in my photographs or website to a friend. If I don't do that,the copyright will belong to my estate - and in most cases it willsurvive for 70 years after my death."
Your estate may own thecopyright, but that doesn't mean your stuff will stay online. "In mostcases contracts will terminate with your death," Robertson says,"although it can depend on the terms of the contract."
Different approaches
Differentsites have different approaches. On Facebook, accounts remain activeuntil you deactivate them, and even then they're not deleted unless youspecifically ask Facebook to shut down the account.
On Flickrand other Yahoo! services your account is non-transferable and legallyspeaking should die when you do, but in reality your account willremain active provided there's occasional activity - which can be assimple as logging in from time to time. If you don't have access to thelog-in details you can't shut down somebody's photostream withoutsending Yahoo!'s legal compliance team a copy of the person's deathcertificate.
What about paid-for Flickr Pro accounts? If youaren't around to renew the subscription, your account simply reverts toa standard, free account - which means that some of your sets andhigh-res images may no longer be visible to visitors. Sets and imagesaren't deleted, though: if the account is upgraded again to a Proaccount, the 'missing' images will reappear.
Keeping your website alive
Withwebsites, things are more complicated. When you buy a domain name it'susually for a period of two years, and if you don't renew it at the endof that period it simply goes back on the virtual shelves for someoneelse to buy. Paid-for web space only stays up while the hosting billsare being paid, and free services usually close after a specifiedperiod of inactivity, typically 90 days.
That's not always thecase, though: Wordpress.com doesn't delete inactive blogs at all,although it may change that policy due to the ongoing problem of blogsbeing hijacked by spammers and other undesirables.
According toForbes magazine, if you're serious about keeping your online presencegoing you should appoint an executor, somebody who'll handle youraffairs when you're gone. Leave him or her your logins and other keyinformation, and if there's stuff you'd rather the family didn't seeyou can arrange for the executor to delete specific content from yourcomputer or online accounts.
You don't have to do it in a will ifyou don't want to; an envelope marked "to be opened in the event of mydeath" is just as effective, provided of course your executor can findit. Think about money, too: if it's possible to pay for hosting ordomains for a long period then do so; if it isn't, make sure you leaveinstructions and cash to cover the bills.
If all else fails,there's always the Internet Archive. It won't archive your Flickr picsor password-protected content, but it does a decent job of archivingpublicly available web pages. If your site isn't already in the index,you can add it via Alexa.
We might not live forever, but some of our web pages may.