Celebrated Russian Hacker Now In Exile

An anonymous reader writes: VKontakte is a Russian social network, more popular there than even Facebook. Its founder, Pavel Durov, was a celebrity for his entrepreneurial skills, much like Mark Zuckerberg elsewhere. But as Russia has cracked down on internet freedoms, 30-year-old Durov had to relinquish control of the social network. He eventually fled the country when the government pressured him to release data on Ukrainian protest leaders. He's now a sort of roving hacker, showing up where he's welcome and not staying too long. "Mr. Durov, known for his subversive wit and an all-black wardrobe that evokes Neo from the Matrix movies, is now a little-seen nomad, moving from country to country every few weeks with a small band of computer programmers. One day he is in Paris, another in Singapore." Durov said, "I'm very happy right now without any property anywhere. I consider myself a legal citizen of the world."

Comments

Snowden revenge?

[dskoll]

With Putin giving the US a black eye by harbouring Edward Snowden, maybe this guy will find sanctuary in the US? :)

Re:Snowden revenge?

[jfdavis668]

Maybe Edward can rent him his house, he won't be using it any time soon.

Re:Snowden revenge?

[dskoll]

When all is said and done, the US is still a helluva lot freer than Russia. But I was being facetious; the last place he should go is the USA or we'd see a Snowden - Durov swap in the blink of an eye.

Re:Snowden revenge?

[flyingsquid]

Or maybe both of them can go into exile together in a third country. And Julian Assange can go there too. And they'll share an apartment together. It'd make a great sitcom. "Three hacker dissidents exiled from their native countries... now they're all living in one house! See what kind of wacky adventures they get into!"

Yeah, easy for you

[OverlordQ]

When Mr. Durov sold his stake in VKontakte last December, there was speculation it was worth a few hundred million dollars. Mr. Durov would not give a specific figure, citing a nondisclosure agreement.
[...]
“I’m very happy right now without any property anywhere,” he added. “I consider myself a legal citizen of the world.”

When your net-worth is 7 figures at a minimum, that's a bit easier to do.

Re:Commie Critter On The Lam?

[SLot]

http://dealbook.nytimes.com/20...

The Russian Internet giant Mail.ru said on Tuesday that it had bought the remaining stake in Vkontakte, the country’s largest social network, that it did not already own for $1.47 billion.

Mail.ru is owned by Alisher B. Usmanov.

From http://qz.com/268023/this-puti... :

Usmanov is one of Russian president Vladimir Putin’s “oligarchs,” a group of businessmen with close ties to the Kremlin, and last year Putin awarded him Russia’s highest civilian award, the Order for Service to the Fatherland.

That ought to clear up who is running/owns VKontakte.

Re:A Ukrainian joke

[SLot]

A better joke:

Two Ukranian men are sitting in Odesa, discussing what is going on in Ukraine over a drink.

Man 1: I stopped speaking Russian.
Man 2: Why? Afraid the Ukranians will beat you?
Man 1: No, that Russians will come to protect me.

Re:Snowden vs Durov

[armanox]

And what has Durov done that was traitorous or cowardly?

And for that matter, Snowden was a patriot, and far from a coward. A coward would have kept his mouth shut.

Re:A Ukrainian joke

[SLot]

Haha, touche! Half of me wants very much to see my friends in kyiv, dnepropetrovsk & lviv, but the other half says wait a little while longer....

also: What do Putin, oil and the ruble have in common? They all hit 63 next year. ;)