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Send Emails After Your Death

Posted by CowboyNeal on from the packets-from-beyond-the-grave dept.

Roland Piquepaille writes "As you all know, the two things in life you can't avoid are taxes and death. But if you will no longer have to pay taxes after your death, you will be able to send email thanks to a new service, Mylastemail.com. The Los Angeles Times (free registration needed) says this service will cost you $9.99 for a three-year subscription. The company says you can update your farewell messages from anywhere in the world, including cybercafes or airports." If it's not a hoax, it's a pretty cool service.

5 of 271 comments (clear)

  1. spam by spoonyfork · · Score: 3, Insightful

    I have no doubt that I will be sending and receiving spam messages long after my own demise.

    --
    Speak truth to power.
  2. This is retarded by Lxy · · Score: 4, Insightful

    the concept is cool, but there's one thing that doesn't make any sense.. HOW DO THEY KNOW IF YOU'VE DIED????

    According to the FAQ on the site, you need to leave some kind of documentation in a place where someone will find it after you've died. That person is then responsible to contact them and have the e-mails sent. Dumb question: If you have to leave a note behind anyway, why use the e-mail service? Why not write letters in envelopes and store them in the same safe place you'll store this document?

    Sounds more like a ploy to take money from the naive. Too bad I didn't think of this.

    --

    There is no reasonable defense against an idiot with an agenda
    :wq
  3. Re:No thanks by piranha(jpl) · · Score: 4, Insightful

    Really. The FAQ says that messages sent to recipients only contain a URL to your full message. Unless they actually include the name of the deceased in the Subject or something else which clearly differentiates it from spam, many people will probably disregard the message.

  4. This is just a bad idea... by ezraekman · · Score: 4, Insightful

    Yeah, read about it already on the Register. Why would someone want to do this?

    "Mylastemail.com , in its sole discretion, upon five (5) days' written notice and without liability to you, may terminate your password, account or use of the Service and remove and discard any Messages within the Service if you fail to comply with this Agreement... ... Upon termination mylastemail.com shall have no obligation to maintain or delete any Messages stored in your account or to forward any Messages to you or any third party. "

    "Indemnification

    You shall indemnify and hold mylastemail.com and its parents, subsidiaries, affiliates, officers, directors, employees, attorneys, and agents, harmless from and against any and all claims, costs, damages, losses, liabilities, and expenses (including attorneys' fees and costs) arising out of your Message or in connection with your use of the Service and Content, or breach of this Agreement.

    Disclaimer of Warranties

    MYLASTEMAIL.COM MAKES NO REPRESENTATION, WARRANTY, OR GUARANTY AS TO THE RELIABILITY, TIMELINESS, QUALITY, SUITABILITY, TRUTH, AVAILABILITY, ACCURACY OR COMPLETENESS OF THE SERVICE OR ANY CONTENT. MYLASTEMAIL.COM DOES NOT REPRESENT OR WARRANT THAT:

    (I) THE USE OF THE SERVICE WILL BE TIMELY, UNINTERRUPTED OR ERROR-FREE OR OPERATE IN COMBINATION WITH ANY OTHER HARDWARE, SOFTWARE, SYSTEM OR DATA,
    (II) THE SERVICE WILL MEET YOUR REQUIREMENTS OR EXPECTATIONS,
    (III) THE QUALITY OF ANY PRODUCTS, SERVICES, INFORMATION, OR OTHER MATERIAL PURCHASED OR OBTAINED BY YOU THROUGH THE SERVICE WILL MEET YOUR REQUIREMENTS OR EXPECTATIONS,
    (IV) ERRORS OR DEFECTS WILL BE CORRECTED,
    (V) THE SERVICE OR THE SERVER(S) THAT MAKE THE SERVICE AVAILABLE ARE FREE OF VIRUSES OR OTHER HARMFUL COMPONENTS. THE SERVICE AND ALL CONTENT IS PROVIDED TO YOU STRICTLY ON AN "AS IS" BASIS. ALL CONDITIONS, REPRESENTATIONS AND WARRANTIES, WHETHER EXPRESS, IMPLIED, STATUTORY OR OTHERWISE, INCLUDING, WITHOUT LIMITATION, ANY IMPLIED WARRANTY OF MERCHANTABILITY, FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE, OR NON-INFRINGEMENT OF THIRD PARTY RIGHTS, ARE HEREBY DISCLAIMED TO THE MAXIMUM EXTENT PERMITTED BY APPLICABLE LAW BY MYLASTEMAIL."

    That last bunch of bru-ha-ha is the icing on the cake. Basically, this all says "Pay us money. In exchange, we promise nothing, guarantee nothing, but give you a warm fuzzy feeling that everything will be okay if you die... but we don't guarantee or even really hint that you might feel A) warm or B) fuzzy. It's all in your mind. Give us money now, please."

    It seems pretty pointless to me. It might be different if A) there was any kind of "real" guarantee and B) e-mail was a more reliable, widely used medium. But the fact of the matter is that there are still millions of people who don't yet understand or even use e-mail, and those who do know that it's not always reliable. If you need this kind of service, pay a live, professional person who knows how to use e-mail, phone, fax, snail mail, etc. to inform those who need to know.

    Of course, that won't stop the masses who don't understand e-mail and like warm fuzzy feelings from handing over the cash.

  5. Cut out the middleman by fleener · · Score: 4, Insightful

    Let me get this straight. I print a document from the web site, give it to my trustee, and my trustee is responsible for contacting the web site to inform it that I have died? I'll just give my final messages directly to my trustee and cut out the middleman.