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