Benjamin Stassen took his own life(1) in 2010. His parents(2) thought(3) their 21-year-old son(4) was happy. Since(5) his suicide, they have attempted(6) to learn(7) why he killed(8) himself.
Alice and Jay Stassen thought Benjamin’s Facebook account(9) might hold(10) clues(11) to his suicide. But the account does not belong(12) to them, nor(13) did it belong to their son. Facebook owns(14) everything in his account. That is what the company says in its user agreement(15). Jay Stassen says he found(16) it difficult even(17) to communicate with Facebook. If you search(18) on the home page(19) of
Facebook for an email address(20), a mailing(21) address, a phone number, or a contact person to help, he says, you will find little information.
A court(22) ordered the company to let(23) the Stassens see their son’s account. But, Facebook has yet (24)to obey(25) the order.34-year-old Mac Tonnies died(26) in his sleep in 2009. He left behind(27) a lot of online friends, many of whom(28) liked his futuristic blog, “Post-Human Blues.”
Work on the blog stopped when he died. A short time later(29), the comments area was filled with(30) unwanted advertising(31). That angered(32) his friend Dia Sobin. He said the advertising, or spam, dishonored(33) his friend.
Lawyer(34) John Boucher stays informed about digital rights(35) and the law(36). But he admits that he and his wife(37) have signed(38) many user agreements without(39) reading them.
He says he would not know how to get information(40) from his wife’s accounts if she dies. Mr. Boucher says he thinks that laws will be written(41), over time(42), to deal with(43) these situations. But it will take a long time(44) to be accepted(45) by the states.
Some businesses(46) now are offering(47) people a way(48) to control what happens(49) to their online information after they die. One way to do this is to place(50) your online accounts and passwords(51) in a digital storage(52) area. You give the owners(53) of the area orders about which information to destroy(54) and which to give others when you die.
Mark Plattner was one of Mac Tonnies’
friends. He recently used a program called Sitesucker to download Mac’s
blog. He then uploaded a copy of the blog to a new web site under(55) his control. Mark Plattner says we should(56) all plan(57) our own digital legacy. He says “don’t be passive — get to work on your online afterlife(58)
now.” And that’s the VOA Special English Technology Report. You can
leave comments about this story at voaspecialenglish.com. I’m Carolyn
Presutti. (Adapted from a radio program broadcast 23Jul2012)
Vocabulary
1. took his own life = tirou sua propria vida 2. parents = pais 3. thought = achavam 4. son = filho 5. Since = desde 6. have attempted = tem tentado 7. learn = descobrir 8. killed = matou 9. account = conta 10. might hold = poderia conter 11. clues = pistas 12. belong = pertencer 13. nor = nem (sequer) 14. owns = possui 15. user agreement = contrato de usuário 16. found = achou 17. even = até mesmo 18. search = pesquisar 19. home page = página inicial 20. address = endereço 21. mailing = correspondencia 22. court = tribunal 23. let = deixar 24. yet = ainda 25. obey = obedecer 26. died = morreu 27. left behind = deixou para trás 28. many of whom = muitos dos quais 29. short time later = pouco tempo depois 30. filled with = cheio de 31. unwanted advertising = propaganda indesejada 32. angered = irritou 33. dishonored = desonrou 34. lawyer = advogado 35. rights = direitos 36. law = lei 37. wife = esposa 38. signed = assinou 39. without = sem 40. get information = obter informação 41. written = escrito 42. over time = ao longo do tempo 43. deal with = lidar com 44. take a long time = levar um longo tempo 45. to be accepted = ser aceito 46. businesses = empresas 47. offering = oferecendo 48. way = forma 49. happens = acontece 50. place = colocar 51. passwords = senhas 52. storage = armazenamento 53. owners = donos 54. destroy = destruir 55. under = sob 56. should = deveria 57. plan = planejar 58. afterlife = vida após a morte