4차 산업혁명 시대가 도래했다. 나날이 과학기술이 발전함에 따라 개인의 온라인상의 활동 또한 오프라인에서의 활동만큼 중요한 가치를 지니게 되었다. 스마트폰 등 모바일 기기의 발전은 소셜네트워크(SNS: Social Network Services)의 발전을 가져와 인간의 인터넷상의 활용영역을 확대하고 일상의 모든 기록들이 사이버공간 어딘가에 남겨지도록 만들고 있다. 이와 같은 인간 생활환경의 급격한 변화는 필연적으로 사회 시스템을 구축하고 있는 여러 분야들을 자극하게 되는데 자율과 규제라는 양면을 가진 법의 분야도 예외일 수 없다.
그러나 우리나라의 경우 지능정보화 시대의 흐름이나 ‘디지털유산’에 대한 인식 확산의 정도를 보면 다가올 최첨단 초지능, 초연결시대에 알맞은 적절한 대응이 곤란할 수도 있는 상황을 맞고 있다. 특히 현재의 법 규정들로서는 이러한 변화에 대응하기란 어렵다고 본다. 본 논문에서는 그 중에서도 디지털유산 상속 처리에 관한 현재의 상황을 긍정으로 변화시킬 수 있는 입법방향에 대해서 살펴보았다. 구체적으로는 디지털유산에 관한 일반론적 고찰로써 개념 및 법적성질을 둘러싼 불명확성을 다루어 보았고, 또한 현재의 관련 법률규정에 따른 구체적 상황의 적용이 가능한지 여부를 면밀히 검토하여 향후 입법상황에 대한 대처와 방향 설정에 도움이 되고자 하였다. 요컨대 기본 사항에 대한 규제가 필요하되, 계약자유의 원칙을 전제로 계약당사자의 의사에 따른 자율규제가 우선하는 방향으로 법규정 개정과 정책변화의 대응이 요구된다.
The arrival of the fourth industrial revolution has made the remarkable advances in science and technology and it makes personal activity on online, as well as on offline, more important. Especially, the evolution of mobile devices, such as a smart-phone, expands human activity on the internet and consequently, all records of human activity are left over somewhere in cyberspace. Such radical change of human life necessarily does not stimulate various social systems, but it also urges the law field in pursuit of both autonomy and regulatory to keep up with trends in the increasingly technological world. The current legal system in Korea may be unable to react satisfactorily to issues related to digital assets or digital legacy. Even though there have been many debates about the succession of 'digital inheritance' over 10 years ago in Korea, discussions about 'digital inheritance' were extremely limited. Among few controversies, one issue is whether or not whether the family of a decedent can inherit digital information of the decedent on the online by succession law. Another issue is whether the family of the deceased can exert a right over digital information on the online left by the deceased, such as email, SNS, blog and comment etc. This paper addresses the overall question of the succession of digital inheritance in Korea as below. First, it is reviewed to the current general theories on 'digital inheritance' in korea. Second, this article considers whether interpretation and application of existing Civil Code is associated with the complete inheritance of digital heritage, unless modified by new legislation of inheritance or modification of Civil Code. Third, following from first and second studies I mentioned, this article proposes that it is time to need a new legislation for maximum protection of 'digital inheritance' of the deceased. To put it more concretely, it is proper to modify the Civil Code to grant control right over relevant individual codes, like Information Telecommunication Act, or to enjoin a duty to inform about 'digital inheritance' of the deceased, after realizing the death of the deceased, on digital assets manager.
The arrival of the fourth industrial revolution has made the remarkable advances in science and technology and it makes personal activity on online, as well as on offline, more important. Especially, the evolution of mobile devices, such as a smart-phone, expands human activity on the internet and consequently, all records of human activity are left over somewhere in cyberspace. Such radical change of human life necessarily does not stimulate various social systems, but it also urges the law field in pursuit of both autonomy and regulatory to keep up with trends in the increasingly technological world. The current legal system in Korea may be unable to react satisfactorily to issues related to digital assets or digital legacy. Even though there have been many debates about the succession of 'digital inheritance' over 10 years ago in Korea, discussions about 'digital inheritance' were extremely limited. Among few controversies, one issue is whether or not whether the family of a decedent can inherit digital information of the decedent on the online by succession law. Another issue is whether the family of the deceased can exert a right over digital information on the online left by the deceased, such as email, SNS, blog and comment etc. This paper addresses the overall question of the succession of digital inheritance in Korea as below. First, it is reviewed to the current general theories on 'digital inheritance' in korea. Second, this article considers whether interpretation and application of existing Civil Code is associated with the complete inheritance of digital heritage, unless modified by new legislation of inheritance or modification of Civil Code. Third, following from first and second studies I mentioned, this article proposes that it is time to need a new legislation for maximum protection of 'digital inheritance' of the deceased. To put it more concretely, it is proper to modify the Civil Code to grant control right over relevant individual codes, like Information Telecommunication Act, or to enjoin a duty to inform about 'digital inheritance' of the deceased, after realizing the death of the deceased, on digital assets manager.
