CryoNet #31742

CryoNet - Tue 16 Jun 2009

    #31742: Virtual Immortality [Charles Platt]

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Message #31742
Date: Mon, 15 Jun 2009 13:58:06 -0400
Subject: Virtual Immortality
From: Charles Platt <[email protected]>

I'm starting to see companies that serve (or exploit, as you wish)
those of us who spend a lot of time in webspace and are aware that
after death occurs in the physical world, our virtual identities may
linger in various uncontrolled or unexpected ways, or may disappear
faster than we would like. Issues range from the persistence of a
"dead" profile on Facebook to the inability of relatives to shut down
accounts because they lack the necessary passwords.

Here's a fair summary of some options:

http://personalmoneystore.com/moneyblog/2009/05/18/eternal-space-legacy-locker/

However, eternalspace.com, the first item on the list, has already
gone out of business. I subscribe to a mail list for funeral
directors, and the list owner has commented that "the funeral industry
is much slower to accept new product and introduce that product into
the arrangement room or to client families than other industries."

Evidently cryonicists aren't the only ones whose big ideas about
"death management" don't catch on as fast as they expect--and lose
money as a result.

As of today, the virtualspace.com home page survives in a Google
cache; but I don't know if it will still be there tomorrow.

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