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+# Morpheus — Philosophy
+
+> "Everyone knows your name. Nobody reads your messages."
+
+## The Core Distinction
+
+**Morpheus is private, not anonymous.**
+
+You have a real identity on Morpheus — a profile, a reputation, followers, a history.
+People know you. That's the point of a social network.
+
+But your direct messages are encrypted end-to-end with NIP-44. Not because we choose
+not to read them — because we architecturally *cannot*. The encryption happens on your
+device, between you and the recipient. We never hold the keys.
+
+This is not a political statement. It's an engineering decision.
+
+| What we CAN provide if legally required | What we CANNOT provide, ever |
+| --- | --- |
+| Public posts (they're public by design) | Content of encrypted DMs |
+| Account metadata (creation date, public key) | Private encryption keys |
+| Relay connection logs (IP, timestamp) | Decrypted message content |
+| Public social graph (who follows whom publicly) | Messages that were never stored on our relays |
+
+We comply with the law. We also build systems where the most sensitive data
+simply does not exist in a form we can access. These two things are not in conflict.
+
+## Why Morpheus Exists
+
+Social networks in Russia are under pressure. Services get blocked, APIs get restricted,
+content gets moderated by external mandate. Young people deserve a social space that is:
+
+1. **Fast** — because they're used to the best apps in the world
+2. **Beautiful** — because aesthetics matter to this generation
+3. **Honest about privacy** — not "trust us" but "verify: here's the code"
+4. **Resilient** — if something changes politically, your messages are still yours
+
+## Design Principles
+
+### 1. Speed is respect
+
+Every millisecond of loading time says "we don't value your time."
+Morpheus must feel instant — faster than Telegram, smoother than Instagram.
+60fps or nothing. If the user can perceive a delay, it's a bug.
+
+### 2. Privacy through architecture, not policy
+
+Don't say "we won't read your messages." Say "we can't."
+NIP-44 encryption means DM content is ciphertext on our relays.
+We don't make a privacy promise — we make a mathematical guarantee.
+Public posts are public. Private messages are private. No ambiguity.
+
+### 3. Not anonymous, not surveilled — just private
+
+Users have identities. They build reputations. They're accountable for public behavior.
+But their private conversations are theirs. This is the same expectation people have
+with postal mail, phone calls, and in-person conversations.
+Morpheus simply extends this expectation to digital communication.
+
+### 4. Simplicity is power
+
+Every feature must justify its existence. If a teenager can't figure it out
+in 3 seconds, it's too complex. No settings pages. No toggles.
+The app should feel like it reads your mind, not like it needs a manual.
+
+### 5. We are a business, not a movement
+
+Morpheus is a company that makes a product. We charge for premium features.
+We are not funded by ads, not funded by data sales, not funded by ideology.
+Our incentive is simple: make a product so good that people pay for it.
+When incentives are clear, trust follows.
+
+### 6. Compliant and principled
+
+We operate within the law. We register where required. We respond to lawful requests.
+AND we build systems where encrypted content cannot be decrypted by us.
+These are not contradictions — this is responsible engineering.
+We will never install backdoors, key escrow, or ghost protocols.
+If we cannot technically comply with a specific request, we say so transparently.
+
+### 7. Open by default
+
+The client is open source. The protocol (Nostr) is open.
+Users can verify every privacy claim by reading the code.
+If you don't trust us, don't take our word — audit us.
+
+## What Morpheus Is
+
+- A fast, beautiful social network for young Russian-speaking people
+- Built on Nostr protocol for real encryption and portability
+- A business that makes money from premium features, not from users' data
+- Compliant with applicable law while protecting what encryption protects
+- An app your friend tells you about because it's good, not because it's political
+
+## What Morpheus Is NOT
+
+- **Not anonymous** — you have a real, persistent identity
+- **Not a protest tool** — it's for memes, group chats, dating, music, friends
+- **Not a crypto/Web3 project** — Nostr uses keys, but there are no tokens or blockchain
+- **Not anti-government** — we comply with law; we also use strong encryption
+- **Not a dark web app** — the aesthetic is bright, modern, and mainstream
+
+## The Privacy Spectrum
+
+```plaintext
+Fully surveilled          Morpheus position           Fully anonymous
+|__________________________|___________________________|
+VK, OK                  "Private, not anonymous"     Tor, I2P
+                         - Real identities
+                         - E2E encrypted DMs
+                         - Public posts are public
+                         - Compliant operations
+                         - No backdoors
+```
+
+Morpheus occupies the practical middle ground: the same privacy you'd expect in real life,
+applied to digital communication. Nothing more extreme. Nothing less.
+
+## The Morpheus Promise
+
+We will:
+
+- Encrypt all DMs with NIP-44 — always, by default, no opt-in needed
+- Publish our source code
+- Comply with lawful requests using data we actually have
+- Be transparent about what data exists and what doesn't
+- Never add backdoors or weaken encryption
+- Never sell user data or run behavioral advertising
+- Build a sustainable business on premium features
+
+We will be honest when we cannot do something, rather than pretend we can.