Ahh.. the blog. Look for apocalypse soon.

In my book, Permutation City, by Greg Egan, there are so many different philosophical issues I had a hard time containing them in my paper. Here is one:

Similarly to Nozick's Experience Machine, in this book people can 'scan' their existence and make digital (in ultra-realistic scenarios and environments) copies of themselves. These copies can be 'run' like a computer program in a user defined environment complete with a decent (but limited) amount of interaction with the surroundings. The technology and computing power is limited, and so copies cannot be run indefinitely. Maria is a main character, and her mother, Francesca, is dying of cancer. Maria very much wants to get her mother scanned, and therefore save her. She may die in reality, but a VR simulation of her would live. Francesca doesn't want to be scanned; she is content to die and be finished. (typical elderly response to new technology)

Does Maria have the right to create a copy of her mother to be run when the software is available to perpetuate a digital existence, to save her?