So giving the database away to the theoretical child's aunt is a wasting of the estate's assets and little better than theft from that child , , , The data may not be Jade's to give away.
Originally Posted by TexTushHog
An interesting legal question but not exactly giving away assets perhaps. At least my impression was that ERAPS would get a
copy of the database ans ASPD would still have the original database. So it becomes more a question of whether the family preserved and maximized the value of the site and database. Would a probate court have required the executor to keep the site running, or find a public policy reason ("may facilitate prostitution") to avoid doing so? My guess is that a court might
allow them to continue to run the site but not
require them to. Particularly if they didn't want to do so for whatever scruples. But it's an interesting question and all I have is an uneducated guess.
What about selling the site and/or database? Were Angel and Deuce willing to pay a significant amount for the database? Probably not. (
But was that perhaps part of what the $10K start-up cost was intended for??). Was anyone else? Would there have been bidders for the database or site if Angel had not announced intent to keep a copy? How does the court determine damages in the absence of an outside bid? The software/hardware had minimal value. Would someone have paid significant amount for the right to use the name but without the database and members? Would someone have paid for a list of members and their contact info -- and would we have been outraged if they sold? So it seems as though either the database (if anyone wanted it by itself) or the existing site would be the only things of significant value. Not sure if anyone would have bought the database by itself -- it's worth less than selling the site itself, as if you import it into a new site, there is less assurance that you'll get a lot of those previous ASPD members to join a new site than how many would stay if ASPD simply continues under new ownership. Not sure if a court would have required the sale of the site itself, particularly if LE or municipal goverment testified it was a public nuisance. Maybe. And I'm not sure how "public" a sale in probate is and how much public knowledge of the buyer's name might depress interest.
And speaking of the database, does that make those who copied posts -- particularly reviews -- and reposted them here thieves? Could a court pursue either them or ASPD staff for diluting the value of the database by allowing copies of a portion of it? Would a prospective purchaser of the database have lowered the bid as a result of all of that going on? Should we criticize those who re-posted reviews here as stealing from a minor child?
If legal questions were straight-forward, no one would have to pay big bucks to lawyers. God forbid.