'Digital inheritance' in legal limbo, as QQ case illustrates
Source: Xinhua |
October 17, 2011, Monday
|
Print Edition
Print Edition
DIGITAL rights to virtual assets after death have become a concern for many Chinese people living increasingly digital lives, and the concept of virtual inheritance still hangs in legal limbo.
A woman surnamed Wang in Shenyang, capital of northeast China's Liaoning Province, approached Tencent, provider of the country's most popular instant message platform QQ to claim access to her recently deceased husband's QQ account but was refused, the Huashang Morning Post reported last week.
Citing its Terms of Service, Tencent explained that QQ accounts could not be inherited.
The story triggered heated debate among Chinese netizens on several major social networking sites, with the majority criticizing Tencent for its "inhumane" treatment of deceased users and their families.
Tencent's official microblog responded shortly after midnight Thursday, expressing condolences and promising to help Wang after verifying her identity with local authorities. The clarification attributed the delay in handling Wang's application to strict policies in protecting the privacy of users.
Netizens were not satisfied. Discussions on the protection of virtual assets continued and expanded over the weekend. Many people were shocked to find that they do not own their QQ accounts, but are only granted a limited right to use them.
The right to use an account belongs solely to the original applicant, and this right shall not be gifted, loaned, rented, transferred or sold under Tencent's Terms of Service.
"People are too dependent on the Internet," wrote the self-identified Zhenzhen. "Every password should be backed up with a hard copy."
Many bloggers agreed with Zhenzhen and said they would include their QQ passwords in their wills.
But others argued that social media companies shouldn't grant permission for anyone to access a deceased user's account without prior permission from the deceased.
Protecting their privacy is also a form of paying due respect to the deceased," wrote microblogger Lili.
China's current laws are vague on the protection of virtual property, and fail to even define virtual property assets. Meanwhile, China's population of Internet users has risen rapidly and exceeded 500 million users by the end of last month.
Recently, a huge potential market for digital heritage management services has emerged, spurring business development in the sector.
A woman surnamed Wang in Shenyang, capital of northeast China's Liaoning Province, approached Tencent, provider of the country's most popular instant message platform QQ to claim access to her recently deceased husband's QQ account but was refused, the Huashang Morning Post reported last week.
Citing its Terms of Service, Tencent explained that QQ accounts could not be inherited.
The story triggered heated debate among Chinese netizens on several major social networking sites, with the majority criticizing Tencent for its "inhumane" treatment of deceased users and their families.
Tencent's official microblog responded shortly after midnight Thursday, expressing condolences and promising to help Wang after verifying her identity with local authorities. The clarification attributed the delay in handling Wang's application to strict policies in protecting the privacy of users.
Netizens were not satisfied. Discussions on the protection of virtual assets continued and expanded over the weekend. Many people were shocked to find that they do not own their QQ accounts, but are only granted a limited right to use them.
The right to use an account belongs solely to the original applicant, and this right shall not be gifted, loaned, rented, transferred or sold under Tencent's Terms of Service.
"People are too dependent on the Internet," wrote the self-identified Zhenzhen. "Every password should be backed up with a hard copy."
Many bloggers agreed with Zhenzhen and said they would include their QQ passwords in their wills.
But others argued that social media companies shouldn't grant permission for anyone to access a deceased user's account without prior permission from the deceased.
Protecting their privacy is also a form of paying due respect to the deceased," wrote microblogger Lili.
China's current laws are vague on the protection of virtual property, and fail to even define virtual property assets. Meanwhile, China's population of Internet users has risen rapidly and exceeded 500 million users by the end of last month.
Recently, a huge potential market for digital heritage management services has emerged, spurring business development in the sector.
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