Pavel Durov promises to return 99% of seized usernames into ge | Telegram Info English

Pavel Durov promises to return 99% of seized usernames into general availability

Pavel Durov made a post on his channel, claiming that 70% of all public addresses were taken by Iranian cybersquatters.

“In mid-August, we withdrew all public Telegram addresses linked to channels that were empty or inactive for the last year. We will gradually reintroduce 99% of these addresses into public use, this time with algorithmic and geolocation limitations so that more users, and not just a select few, can benefit,” — Durov announced.

It's important to note that there is no guarantee the revoked usernames will be available to be claimed back by their original owners. Returning these names into general availability imposes a new era of cybersquatting.

At the same time Pavel Durov finds the earlier suggested way of distributing the usernames to be the most optimal and fair:

“This way, those who acquire these catchy links will be motivated to put them to good use and bring value to our users with original content hosted at recognizable t.me addresses.”

In anticipation of the things to come, Telegram introduced the new link format, which we announced here.