Domain named after Durov

The Durov.im project was proclaimed a new social network from the founder of VKontakte and Telegram

Some publications and Internet users proclaimed the Durov.im project a new social network from Pavel Durov. Durov himself told TJournal that at the moment he is related to only one project, but his home address is indicated in the domain contact information.

Information about the project first appeared in April 2014 and was distributed mainly through Ukrainian publications and VKontakte communities. One of the first publications was published on April 4 on the Re-port.ru resource . It claimed that Pavel Durov acquired the Durov.im domain, and the transaction amount could be several million dollars.

The original source of that note is not exactly known: a person who introduced himself as the owner of the site, in a conversation with TJournal, stated that RBC wrote about it, but no evidence of this could be found. Other publications did not report the sale of the domain.

In a conversation with TJournal, he introduced himself as developer Pavel, who at various times worked for Israeli startups Waze, Fring and the Viber messenger. He said that the Durov.im domain was put up for auction, and different people offered from 25 to 720 thousand dollars for it.

At the same time, the source clearly wanted publication about the sale of the domain, but could not confirm the information and refused to speak publicly. According to him, a domain sales agent offered him to buy Durov.im for $70 thousand, but the price was too high. Therefore, the source recommended that the agent contact VKontakte and its founder Pavel Durov. However, he allegedly could not buy the domain due to the ongoing litigation between the social network and the UCP Foundation.

On April 7, information about the domain reached Fontanka.ru. Covering the conflict between VKontakte and the UCP Foundation, the publication reported that the domain Durov.im, registered at the end of March, may belong to Pavel Durov. At that time, the Durov.im domain redirected to the Telegram website, and a few days before that, to an unprofessionally made page with a login form, stylized as the Telegram main page.

At the end of May, a note about the Durov.im project was published on the Ukrainian resource Gigamir.net , which positions itself as a free journalism site where every visitor can obtain permission to add materials. The first screenshot of the site had already appeared in it, and the project itself was presented as a new social network from Pavel Durov, the creation of which he announced in April. The site was even promoted in the captions of a YouTube clip posted on the fake Vevo Russia account.

On June 12, the old “news” about Durov’s purchase of the Durov.im domain appeared on the same Gigamir.net , but in this case the information was supported by a photograph of the domain registration certificate, dated March 26, 2014. The name of the person to whom the domain is registered has been partially hidden.

For a long time, the resource was redirected to the VKontakte address. In October, the project entered beta version, available only by invitation. On October 31, a new note appeared on Gigamir.net , which stated that “the site is breaking all records” not without the help of Ukrainian users, who allegedly began sending invites to each other en masse.

At the beginning of November, in the VKontakte community dedicated to the project , they allegedly launched a raffle for Apple equipment for reposting, and later temporarily opened free registration on Durov.im. Representatives of the project emphasized that they “do not give any interviews,” and in the meantime, users began to publish the first screenshots from the new social network.

Due to the lack of information from official sources, even people close to VKontakte and familiar with the company’s employees began to cautiously believe in rumors that the project might actually belong to Pavel Durov.

As Telegram head Pavel Durov told TJournal, he is currently related to only one project. According to him, many years ago he registered domains with his last name in all possible zones, but did not renew them.

Domain broker Pavel Gross-Dneprov (brother of Philip Gross-Dneprov, founder of Reg.ru) said that the registration certificate for the Durov.im domain is “100% fake.” According to him, the original domain registrar is not Reg.ru, so the company could not make such a certificate for a “foreign” domain.

On March 26, the domain was registered by EPAG Domainservices and on April 4 it was registered to Artur Ismakov, according to Whois data, living in Israel. As of June 12, the domain already belonged to an unknown person, and the home address of the owner of Durov.im is still listed as Kamyshovaya Street in St. Petersburg ( Pavel Durov’s apartment is located on it ).

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