

Life and Death Online: Who Controls a Digital Legacy?  - 001sky
http://online.wsj.com/article_email/SB10001424127887324677204578188220364231346-lMyQjAxMTAzMDAwNTEwNDUyWj.html

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001sky
_U.S. and Canadian laws, which are similar for the most part, don't treat
digital assets like physical ones that can be distributed according to wills.
In 1986, Congress passed a law forbidding consumer electronic-communications
companies from disclosing content without its owner's consent or a government
order like a police investigation. Although that law predates the rise of the
commercial Internet, courts and companies have largely interpreted it to mean
that the families can't force companies to let them access the deceased's data
or their accounts._

\-- Key Empirical Fact about digital 'Assets'

