When a user dies, who owns the contents of that user's
account?
In Ajemian v. Yahoo
Inc. (May 7, 2013), a Massachusetts court
considered this question. Two brothers, who administered their
brother John's estate, brought a lawsuit against Yahoo for
access to email messages of their deceased brother, and a
declaration that the email account was property of John's
estate. The court considered the Yahoo Terms of Service, which
included this clause: "You agree that your Yahoo! account
is non-transferable and any rights to your Yahoo! ID or contents
within your account terminate upon your death. Upon receipt of a
copy of a death certificate, your account may be terminated and all
contents therein permanently deleted."
