Precedent
is invaluable to the U.S. Judicial System, because it lays a
foundation. It sets a standard which every case that comes
after it, is held to. Even if the precedent is overruled, the
fact that there was a case to compare against, and use in reference
can only result in a thorough victory for any just legal system.
It can also prevent preferential treatment, ensuring that people of any financial, racial, sexual, or religious demographic is treated along the same letter of the law as anyone else.
I believe in the interest of Cyber Law, as data becomes more transparent and ephemeral, there will be many cases of first impression, concerning the matters of digital rights after death, like the inheritance of YouTube channels or ownership of iTunes libraries, which will result in a lot of Landmark Court Decisions in our lifetimes that will affect digital users for the next century, and could possibly change the nature of the internet. As denizens of the digital clean slate, it’s our responsibility to be vocal about where our boundaries lay concerning internet privacy and possession.
It is our responsibility to behave accordingly.