Computing

Informatika

Lunch with the Financial Times: Pavel Durov

 

Ručak s Financial Timesom: Pavel Durov

 

Communicating securely

 

Sigurno komuniciranje

 

Making mass surveillance impossible

 

Onemogućavanje masovnog nadzora

 

Telegram as a platform

 

Telegram kao platforma

 

About VKontakte

 

O VKontakte

 

A libertarian's paradise

 

Raj za libertarijance

 

Views on other regimes

 

Pogledi na druge režime

 

Propaganda wars

 

Propagandni ratovi

 

Lunch with the Financial Times: Pavel Durov

In his native Russia, Pavel Durov is compared to Mark Zuckerberg. Though flattering, the comparison with the Facebook founder does not seem quite right: it overstates Durov's commercial success and understates his personal accomplishments.

Like Zuckerberg, the young tech entrepreneur from St Petersburg created his country's most popular social network, VKontakte, which revolutionised the Russian internet. But in 2011 Durov fell foul of the Kremlin by refusing to close down the pages of opposition activists as protests swelled against the returning president, Vladimir Putin. He became a target of increasing police harassment and was, in effect, forced to sell out of VKontakte to pro-Kremlin investors. Fired as the company's chief executive in 2014, he quit Russia with $300m in his pocket and created a new messaging app, Telegram. He now wanders the world preaching the virtues of secure communications and libertarianism.


Pavel Durov (30) has certainly achieved a lot for his age and retains grandiose plans for the future. So I am a little surprised when a slim, unassuming man slips into a sleek Italian restaurant in Mayfair and introduces himself in quiet, near-flawless English...  Search for more... 

In his native Russia, Pavel Durov is compared to Mark Zuckerberg. Though flattering, the comparison with the Facebook founder does not seem quite right: it overstates Durov's commercial success and understates his personal accomplishments.

Like Zuckerberg, the young tech entrepreneur from St Petersburg created his country's most popular social network, VKontakte, which revolutionised the Russian internet. But in 2011 Durov fell foul of the Kremlin by refusing to close down the pages of opposition activists as protests swelled against the returning president, Vladimir Putin. He became a target of increasing police harassment and was, in effect, forced to sell out of VKontakte to pro-Kremlin investors. Fired as the company's chief executive in 2014, he quit Russia with $300m in his pocket and created a new messaging app, Telegram. He now wanders the world preaching the virtues of secure communications and libertarianism.

Pavel Durov (30) has certainly achieved a lot for his age and retains grandiose plans for the future. So I am a little surprised when a slim, unassuming man slips into a sleek Italian restaurant in Mayfair and introduces himself in quiet, near-flawless English. His appearance, all-black clothing and rebellious instincts have led to innumerable comparisons with the mysterious action hero Neo in the Matrix movies. But his pale complexion, black hair, and doe eyes remind me more of a dreamy prince in a Disney cartoon.

He tells me that he chose Quattro Passi for lunch because he is staying nearby and likes the cooking. "Italian food is simple and healthy, and it's easier for a vegetarian to choose something from the menu", he says. It perhaps also reminds him of his childhood: Durov spent several years in Italy, in Turin, because his father Valery (who holds a PhD in philology and is an expert on ancient Rome) was employed there. "I was born in the Soviet Union. Then when I was three or four we moved to Italy. And when we got back there was no more Soviet Union", he says.

I ask him about his lifestyle. Durov, who says he is addicted to big cities but does not like the concept of countries, explains how he and a core team of four engineers from Telegram take their work with them round the world. "We choose a place and stay there for two or three months, then we relocate to the next place".

Over the past year, he and his team have worked out of San Francisco, New York, London, Paris and Berlin, and he is off again soon to Finland. The peripatetic lifestyle also suits his business, given that one of its great selling points is security. "Since the day we started Telegram 18 months ago we haven't disclosed a single byte of user data to third parties, including government officials".

Though Telegram is registered as both a British and a US company, it does not disclose where it rents offices or the legal entities it uses to rent them. This helps him shelter his team from any "unnecessary influence", he says, and enables the company to protect its 62m users from data requests from government. Telegram uses a distributed network of servers in several different jurisdictions, rather than a central hub like most other messaging apps.  » Search for more... 

Ručak s Financial Timesom: Pavel Durov

U njegovoj rodnoj Rusiji, Pavela Durova uspoređuju s Markom Zuckerbergom. Iako je laskava, usporedba s osnivačem Facebook-a ne čini se potpuno dobrom: ona precjenjuje komercijalni uspjeh Durova i podcjenjuje njegova osobna postignuća.

Poput Zuckerberga, mladi tehnološki poduzetnik iz Sankt Peterburga stvorio je najpopularniju društvenu mrežu u svojoj zemlji, VKontakte, koja je revolucionarizirala ruski internet. Međutim, Durov se 2011. godine sukobio s Kremljem kada je odbio ugasiti stranice oporbenih aktivista, dok su u tijeku bili sve veći prosvjedi protiv povratka predsjednika Vladimira Putina. Postao je ciljem sve većeg policijskog uznemiravanja i kao rezultat svega bio je prisiljen prodati VKontakte investitorima naklonjenima Kremlju. Nakon što je otpušten kao izvršni direktor tvrtke 2014. godine, napustio je Rusiju s 300 milijuna dolara u džepu i izradio novu aplikaciju za razmjenu poruka, Telegram. Sada luta svijetom propovijedajući o vrlinama sigurnih komunikacija i libertarijanizma.

Pavel Durov (30) je svakako postigao mnogo za svoje godine i ima grandiozne planove za budućnost. Stoga sam pomalo iznenađen kada mršav i skroman čovjek ulazi u elegantni talijanski restoran u Mayfairu i predstavlja se na tihom, gotovo besprijekornom engleskom jeziku...  Potraži više... 

U njegovoj rodnoj Rusiji, Pavela Durova uspoređuju s Markom Zuckerbergom. Iako je laskava, usporedba s osnivačem Facebook-a ne čini se potpuno dobrom: ona precjenjuje komercijalni uspjeh Durova i podcjenjuje njegova osobna postignuća.

Poput Zuckerberga, mladi tehnološki poduzetnik iz Sankt Peterburga stvorio je najpopularniju društvenu mrežu u svojoj zemlji, VKontakte, koja je revolucionarizirala ruski internet. Međutim, Durov se 2011. godine sukobio s Kremljem kada je odbio ugasiti stranice oporbenih aktivista, dok su u tijeku bili sve veći prosvjedi protiv povratka predsjednika Vladimira Putina. Postao je ciljem sve većeg policijskog uznemiravanja i kao rezultat svega bio je prisiljen prodati VKontakte investitorima naklonjenima Kremlju. Nakon što je otpušten kao izvršni direktor tvrtke 2014. godine, napustio je Rusiju s 300 milijuna dolara u džepu i izradio novu aplikaciju za razmjenu poruka, Telegram. Sada luta svijetom propovijedajući o vrlinama sigurnih komunikacija i libertarijanizma.

Pavel Durov (30) je svakako postigao mnogo za svoje godine i ima grandiozne planove za budućnost. Stoga sam pomalo iznenađen kada mršav i skroman čovjek ulazi u elegantni talijanski restoran u Mayfairu i predstavlja se na tihom, gotovo besprijekornom engleskom jeziku. Njegov izgled, u cijelosti crna odjeća i buntovni instinkti doveli su do nebrojenih usporedbi s tajanstvenim akcijskim junakom Neom u filmovima Matrix. Ali me njegov blijed ten, crna kosa i oči poput srne više podsjećaju na sanjivog princa iz Disneyjevog crtanog filma.

Kaže mi da je za ručak odabrao Quattro Passi jer boravi u blizini i voli kuhanje. "Talijanska hrana je jednostavna i zdrava, a vegetarijancu je lakše odabrati nešto iz jelovnika", kaže on. To ga možda ujedno podsjeća na njegovo djetinjstvo: Durov je proveo nekoliko godina u Italiji, u Torinu, jer je njegov otac Valerij (doktor filologije i stručnjak za stari Rim) tamo bio zaposlen. "Rođen sam u Sovjetskom Savezu. A zatim, kada sam imao tri ili četiri godine, preselili smo se u Italiju. A kada smo se vratili, Sovjetskog Saveza više nije bilo", kaže on.

Pitam ga o njegovom načinu života. Durov, koji kaže da je ovisan o velikim gradovima ali mu se ne sviđa koncept država, objašnjava kako on i središnji tim od četiri inženjera iz Telegrama nose svoj posao sa sobom oko svijeta. "Odabiremo mjesto i ostajemo tamo dva ili tri mjeseca, a zatim se selimo na drugo mjesto".

U proteklih godinu dana, on i njegov tim radili su iz San Francisca, New Yorka, Londona, Pariza i Berlina, a uskoro ponovno putuje u Finsku. Peripatetički stil života također odgovara njegovom poslu, s obzirom da je sigurnost jedna od njegovih velikih točaka prodaje. "Od dana kada smo pokrenuli Telegram prije 18 mjeseci nismo otkrili niti jedan bajt korisničkih podataka trećim stranama, uključujući i vladine dužnosnike".

Iako je Telegram registriran i kao britanska i kao američka tvrtka, ne otkriva gdje unajmljuje urede ili koje ih pravne osobe unajmljuju. To mu pomaže da zaštiti svoju ekipu od bilo kakvih "nepotrebnih utjecaja", kaže on, te omogućuje tvrtki da zaštiti svojih 62 milijuna korisnika od vladinih zahtjeva za podacima. Telegram koristi distribuiranu mrežu poslužitelja u nekoliko različitih nadležnosti, a ne središnje čvorište poput većine drugih aplikacija za razmjenu poruka.  » Potraži više... 

Communicating securely

The initial impulse for both of his companies has stemmed, Durov says, from satisfying a personal need: the wish to communicate with his university friends in the case of VKontakte, and the necessity of creating a secure messaging system with Telegram. He had the idea for the latter after he came under intense scrutiny from the Russian authorities in 2011. Armed police attempted to storm his apartment in St Petersburg and he realised that his communications were being tapped. He wanted a means of communicating securely with his 34-year-old brother Nikolai, a mathematician and engineer who helped found VKontakte and later developed the encryption code for the Telegram app...  Search for more... 

Sigurno komuniciranje

Početni impuls za obje njegove tvrtke pojavio se, kaže Durov, zbog zadovoljavanja osobne potrebe: želje za komuniciranjem sa svojim prijateljima na sveučilištu u slučaju aplikacije VKontakte, te nužnosti stvaranja sigurnog sustava za razmjenu poruka pomoću aplikacije Telegram. Dobio je ideju za potonju aplikaciju nakon što je došao pod intenzivan nadzor ruskih vlasti 2011. godine. Naoružana policija je pokušala provaliti u njegov stan u Sankt Peterburgu, pa je shvatio da prisluškuju njegove komunikacije. Želio je način za sigurnu komunikaciju sa svojim 34-godišnjim bratom Nikolajem, matematičarom i inženjerom koji je pomogao u osnivanju aplikacije VKontakte, a kasnije je razvio enkripcijski kod za aplikaciju Telegram...  Potraži više... 

Making mass surveillance impossible

For example, he continues, the pharmaceuticals industry persuades us we need to take pills to keep healthy. "But I don't use anything pharmaceutical companies have to offer and I'm still healthy. Maybe we shouldn't be too dependent on the advertisements companies want us to believe. Maybe we shouldn't be too dependent on politicians trying to make us believe that we are safe only because of their actions".

Moreover, if the security services really want to access a user's data, he says, they can contact Google and Apple...  Search for more... 

Onemogućavanje masovnog nadzora

Na primjer, nastavlja on, farmaceutska industrija nas uvjerava da bismo trebali uzimati tablete kako bismo ostali zdravi. "Ali ja ne koristim ništa što farmaceutske tvrtke imaju u ponudi i još sam uvijek zdrav. Možda ne bismo trebali biti previše ovisni o reklamama za koje tvrtke žele da im vjerujemo. Možda ne bismo trebali biti previše ovisni o političarima koji nas pokušavaju uvjeriti da smo sigurni samo zbog njihovih postupaka".

Štoviše, ako sigurnosne službe doista žele pristupiti podacima korisnika, kaže on, one mogu kontaktirati Google i Apple...  Potraži više... 

Telegram as a platform

Some 5bn messages are now sent via Telegram daily. But security is not the only reason for Telegram's appeal, Durov says, explaining that it is the only mass-market messaging app that has opened its source code, thus encouraging other developers to use it as a platform. This enables developers to run educational programmes to learn Chinese, for example, or run dating sites.



Pulling out his smartphone, which has a cracked screen, he demonstrates a prototype dating app on Telegram's platform. Almost instantly, the app connects him with Julia, 32, in St Petersburg...  Search for more... 

Telegram kao platforma

Trenutno se putem aplikacije Telegram šalje otprilike 5 milijardi poruka dnevno. Ali sigurnost nije jedini razlog zbog kojeg je Telegram privlačan, kaže Durov, objašnjavajući da je to jedina aplikacija za razmjenu poruka namijenjena masovnom tržištu koja je otvorila svoj izvorni kod i time potiče druge programere da je koriste kao platformu. To omogućuje programerima da, primjerice, pokrenu obrazovne programe za učenje kineskog jezika ili pokrenu internetske stranice za upoznavanje.

Izvlačeći svoj pametni telefon, koji ima napuknut ekran, on demonstrira prototip aplikacije za upoznavanje na platformi Telegrama. Gotovo odmah, aplikacija ga povezuje s Julijom, 32, u Sankt Peterburgu...  Potraži više... 

About VKontakte

We move on to what Durov calls his "previous project": VKontakte. Having taught himself coding to build his own computer games, he developed this social network while he was a liberal arts student at St Petersburg State University. Initially it was a platform on which students could share material from lectures they had skipped...  Search for more... 

O VKontakte

Nastavljamo na ono što Durov naziva svojim "prethodnim projektom": VKontakte. Nakon što je naučio programirati kako bi radio vlastite računalne igre, razvio je ovu društvenu mrežu dok je bio student liberalne umjetnosti na Državnom sveučilištu u Sankt Peterburgu. U početku to bila platforma na kojoj su studenti mogli razmjenjivati materijale s predavanja koja su preskočili...  Potraži više... 

A libertarian's paradise

Durov concedes he drew inspiration from Facebook, which was fast expanding in US universities at the time, and carefully studied what worked — and what didn't. He had no difficulty finding talented engineers to develop the network and VKontakte flourished. It was, he says, a "libertarian's paradise" in the unregulated internet market that then existed in Russia. "You could do anything", he says. "Of course, there were stupid laws. You could get around them with the help of corruption, which is usually bad, but when the laws are really stupid, outdated and limit innovation, it can be a good thing".

The business and political climate changed rapidly in late 2011, however, when Russia's then prime minister Vladimir Putin made it clear he was going to return to the presidency and mass protests erupted over disputed parliamentary elections. According to Durov, the government panicked and deluged VKontakte with demands to block opposition activity. Durov did not take the requests seriously, fearing he would simply lose traffic to Facebook and Twitter. "So, I made fun of it. I posted a tweet with a dog in a hoodie with its tongue hanging out", he says...  Search for more... 

Raj za libertarijance

Durov priznaje da je inspiraciju dobio od Facebooka, koji se u to vrijeme brzo širio u američkim sveučilištima, te da je pažljivo proučavao što funkcionira i što ne funkcionira. Nije imao problema s pronalaženjem talentiranih inženjera za razvoj mreže i VKontakte je procvjetao. Bio je to, kaže on, "raj za libertarijance" na nereguliranom internetskom tržištu koje je tada postojalo u Rusiji. "Mogli ste raditi bilo što", kaže on. "Naravno, tu su bili glupi zakoni. Mogli ste ih zaobići uz pomoć korupcije, što je obično loše, ali kada su zakoni stvarno glupi, zastarjeli i ograničavaju inovacije, to može biti i dobra stvar".

Međutim, poslovna i politička klima naglo su se promijenile krajem 2011. godine, kada je tadašnji ruski premijer Vladimir Putin jasno dao do znanja da će ponovno postati predsjednik, pa su izbili masovni prosvjedi zbog spornih parlamentarnih izbora. Prema Durovu, vlada se uspaničila i preplavila VKontakte zahtjevima za blokiranjem aktivnosti oporbe. Durov zahtjeve nije shvatio ozbiljno, bojeći se da će jednostavno izgubiti promet u korist Facebooka i Twittera. "Stoga sam sve to ismijao. Objavio sam tweet sa psom u majici s kapuljačom i isplaženim jezikom", kaže on...  Potraži više... 

Views on other regimes

He says he remains hopeful the reactionary forces that are running Russia will weaken and a more open-minded generation of politicians will come to the fore. "But I regard myself as a tech entrepreneur, not as a politician or philosopher. I'd be happy to see libertarian values spread but it's not something that I see as my mission".

His views on other regimes around the world are not much more favourable...  Search for more... 

Pogledi na druge režime

On kaže da se i dalje nada da će reakcionarne snage koje vode Rusiju oslabiti i da će do izražaja doći generacija političara otvorenijeg uma. "Ali ja se smatram tehnološkim poduzetnikom, a ne političarom ili filozofom. Bio bih sretan da vidim širenje libertarijanskih vrijednosti, ali to nije nešto što vidim kao svoju misiju".

Njegovi pogledi na druge režime diljem svijeta nisu mnogo povoljniji...  Potraži više... 

Propaganda wars

Durov feels the conflict between Russia and Ukraine deeply but says he could never take sides. "From my mother's side I am from Ukraine and from my father's side I am from Russia. Personally I think they are probably the closest relatives in the family of nations".

He believes a battle of ideas is raging in Russia that will determine the country's future. As someone who during his military service learned how to wage propaganda wars, he admires the Kremlin's approach, from a purely professional standpoint...  Search for more... 

Propagandni ratovi

Durov duboko osjeća sukob između Rusije i Ukrajine, ali kaže da nikada ne bi mogao odabrati stranu. "S majčine strane sam iz Ukrajine, a s očeve strane sam iz Rusije. Osobno smatram da se radi o vjerojatno najbližim rođacima u obitelji naroda".

On vjeruje da u Rusiji bjesni borba ideja koja će odrediti budućnost zemlje. Kao netko tko je tijekom svoje vojne službe učio kako voditi propagandne ratove, divi se pristupu Kremlja, s isključivo profesionalnog stajališta...  Potraži više...