Telegram Open Media

Iran just blocked Telegram. Details will follow.

Now it’s official. According to Russian news daily Vedomosti, a notice has been submitted by Mr Durov to the SEC (US Securities and Exchange Commission) stating that he raised $850 mln from the investors.
Curiously enough, although expected, it is by no means the ICO proper. The sell-off was done for fiat money, and the purchasing of “securities” implies they are to be used in future token distributions. Well, a solid scheme. It has nearly nothing to do with the world of crypto enthusiasts though. :D Not that it is a bad thing. Business is better off dealing with dollars and euros than cryptocurrencies and is best off not selling company shares but gems in Clash of...sorry, my bad, grams.
https://www.vedomosti.ru/technology/articles/2018/02/16/751315-abramovich-telegram

P.S. https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/1729650/000095017218000030/0000950172-18-000030-index.htm - original report.

Yet another easter egg about TON. New official Telegram sticker pack Bull&Bear, inspired by cryptomemes, contains grams among all other references.

Telegram just reached #1 rank in AppStore for Belarus, Ukraine and Kyrgyztan.

What features to expect in the next Telegram versions:

1. Updated Global Search. We'll find out which algorithms are to be implemented when the update is out.
2. Grouping channels together into a separate dialogue. This function, which is kind of similar to news feed, had been introduced for a short time in the official Beta client for macOS. Having such a feed may result in some interesting changes impacting the advertising market in Telegram, as it will affect the read-through-rate among the people subscribed to a more or less considerable number of channels.

#opinion #security
Comments from Russian presidential aide German Klimenko:

“Nobody seems to be noticing (I haven’t read anything of that sort at least) a fine nuance in that whole story concerning Telegram’s Pre-ICO: raising funds from the public makes Telegram into a typical regulated project that has to comply with all sorts of laws. Well, you do know the extent of genetic change a company experiences when going from private to public?”

It’s well worth a comment. Telegram turning public is almost certain, aye. Mr.Durov is a tactician though. When the issue does become relevant, he’ll give it a thought. We're intrigued to see what known methods and techniques Telegram’s team will use to turn the pressure its app is under from Europeans into their favor. Things in Iran cleared up of their own accord without any interference, as its economy was taking too much damage, strange as it may seem. Russia failed to avoid involvement, although it is still holding up (getting helped out). As for Indonesia, Durov visited it himself. What and who else is there to come up next? No freaking idea.
He is still, as things stand, able to cope with the money issue, with GRAM being at his disposal. And as for what comes next in terms of having to deal with institutionalized regulators, we’ll see.

Besides, in an interview Mr Klimenko was asked whether Telegram means to give access to user correspondence.

There is something worth pointing out in that respect. There were no such demands. Encryption keys were mentioned. Which is impossible now, even less in the future. Everyone knows that. It’s just the way laws are written and applied for exercising pressure that “not possible” is not considered an appropriate answer. Terrorism suspects using the app for correspondence - in Russia - also mentioned. That’s not only “encrypted chats”. Europe even wants to take preventive action and ban or filter ALL dangerous content.
Indonesia demanded that ISIL should be banned asap.
Iran demanded that channels encouraging people to stage a state coup should be banned, and they also recall poorly done, in their view, anti-porno campaigns.

Half of, if not more, Telegram’s public issues can be resolved by hiring more moderators and introducing an in-depth chat&channel content analysis.
In fact, even the ‘Report’ option, which is part of the Gram bounty program of sorts, can be useful. Lots of social services have experience in UGC moderation. Even in Russia, where Odnoklassniki, a social network, uses it to filter users’ pictures and avatars.

Silicon Valley investors line up to back Telegram ICO:

Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers, Benchmark and Sequoia Capital participate in Telegram token pre-sale with a $20 mln. share each, Financial Times reports.

Group chats limit is extended up to 75 000 members.
Enjoy.