News and Media

Dimitar Ganev:
Bulgarian Internet at the moment is at extreme liberty, says the Chairman of he Bulgarian Web Association

Mr Ganev, how would you comment on the fact that on the day the Supreme Administrative Court ruled out the complaint against spying on the Net, the exam topic at the Faculty of Journalistics was Anonymity on the Internet?

There are several opinions on this. We, at the Bulgarian Web Association (BWA) have not discussed the issue. I personally believe that, on the one hand, tapping is a wicked practice, whether on the Internet or in other means of communication, because information acquired through tapping can be used not only against crime but also for infringing of corporate interests. I read the complaint the bloggers had filed at the SAC and I liked many points in it. However, some of the issues in it are in a way broadening the subject. Interlacing of some concepts on the Internet – tapping, piracy, rights and freedoms, etc. only harms the initiative. Far more people would have supported it had they known it was strictly against online spying. It is one thing to talk about tapping on the net and another one to upload anything there disregarding copyright. This, unfortunately, has also found place in the complaint.

You mean together with the tapping on the Internet issue bloggers pass on other “wicked” ideas?

Imagine the following – you create and produce something very good and of high quality. Someone else, however, copies that and uses it for his/her own website with impunity. You have to wait for a couple of years to get resolution from the Court and during that time you lose money, and it takes years for such resolutions to be granted even in the USA. Yes, it is very bad to tap people, to restrict anyone’s rights and freedom; however, the Bulgarian Internet is at extreme liberty at the moment. The situation reminds me of 1991-92 – everyone felt so free, so they actually didn’t have any rights at all. There is a total lack of business ethics in business, so when I received the letter from the bloggers I decided I didn’t need to be part of that. I have the feeling someone is using bloggers to achieve some corporate goals. I can backup that with an example – you tube is huge business and vbox has also begun to expand no matter there is almost anything there which is copyrighted. I have had a lot of conflicts with the vbox owners regarding TV formats. Televisions create a quality license product, which costs a lot of money and a lot of people work for it. Minutes after the product is shown on TV, it can be found at vbox already and with reasonable quality. Someone from the vbox team has done that. I am not saying everything should be too strict on the Internet but it shouldn’t be allowed to have so obvious stealing, mass advertising of pirate websites is ridiculous – it’s an absurd. What is even more an absurd is that these website begin to compete with other media and correspondingly they bring in advertising budgets. After all, having in mind vbox is a free zone, why is there advertising on it and why isn’t advertising free?

How do you think rules on the Internet should change?

The only way is through changes in the legislation. It is high time the Internet was treated seriously because it is very powerful media. Here’s an example, newspapers that refuse to enter the Internet and publish everything there do not stand a chance. Within the next five years such printed issues simply won’t exist. I am sure that in case newspapers in Bulgaria don’t change their policy and start selling online advertising they are not facing anything good. It will happen so that the rate of increase of Net users will be equal to the rate of disappearing of newspapers. The business on the Internet is growing and developing very quickly and the next thing entering the Internet will be television. bTV have already made the first step broadcasting everything on the Internet. We are looking for everything on the Internet nowadays – reserving our holidays, buying property and cars.

Have we reached the moment when we can believe the information we find on the Internet? There are too many websites which are to say the least questionable.

Well, have we reached the moment when we can believe all that is written in the newspapers and shown on TV? This is the same with the Internet. There are serious publications and programmes, trustworthy because of their point of view and information they offer. There are also publications and programmes, which simply exist there. The difference between the Internet and these communication channels is that on the Net you can to choose from about 10 000 pages.

Mr Ganev, as we mentioned blogs, are they simply online diaries or maybe a way to launch new ideas in the Net?

We are not too far away from the serious moment when bloggers will have their say in most of the issues. Online diaries are a way to express your opinion and position and to share that with a lot of people, because unlike most of the traditional media the Internet is a two-way channel. This is its greatest advantage.

What is the level of the Bulgarian Web branch – what are the conclusions you came to after the Web Festival you organized in June?

We are developing very well and very quickly, too. We have enough young and capable people who are very good at this business. The problem is that these people go away. There is a total lack of skilled people. Our products are much cheaper than the same products in any other country in the EU. This is why we cannot offer salaries even close to those which EU specialists get. The other very essential issue is that our universities do not create specialists because our education in technologies is like in the 18th century. We – partners and even competitors – unite our efforts in organizing educational programmes so that we can keep up the level of the business. After we train these people and they gain experience, however, they are easy prey for outside companies which offer much better salaries.

What should one interested in taking up with the Internet business have in mind?

You cannot become a millionaire for a month in Bulgaria with only one good idea - something which may happen somewhere else around the world. It is completely possible to start with nothing, just an idea and then develop it in the Internet. If you are good, you can sell a product or a certain service all around the world. The problem is that, at this stage, even if you have a very successful product holding 30 – 40 or 50% of the niche in which you are, you cannot allow advertising at many points simultaneously outside of Bulgaria with the amounts accumulated. This stops us to some extent, but anyone who has the knowledge and good ideas should try it.

Mr Ganev, since you’ve been quite explicit about the progress of the IT branch how did it happen then that the online application system for kindergartens collapsed?

I am one of those who could get their child enrolled. What happened was really awful. I don’t want to comment on it anymore but you cannot design a system which has to withstand huge peak pressure and at the same time the winning mechanism to be “first come first served”, this is disastrous for the Internet. I do not at all excuse the colleagues who did that.

What is the underpinning principle for the organization of such state competitions?

I wouldn’t like to comment on that. I think the press came up with quite a lot of information on this case. I could, however, give you the latest example with Agriculture State Fund (Darzhaven Fond Zemedelie) – they sent proposals for offers to 17 companies for the creation of a new website, which in itself is a real breakthrough. Even more, most of these companies have been members of the BWA, serious companies that can get the job done properly. The problem in this case came up from the moment we read the assignment, and here I quote: “Within six days, three design variants, tied to a test case”. This, I believe, clearly shows why state administration cannot get quality products and why many of companies – real professionals do not participate in such competitions.

Dimitar Ganev has been Chairman of the Bulgarian Web Association (BWA) since the fall of 2007. He graduated from Sofia University St. Kliment Ohridski, Faculty of Law, Major Law. Founder and Manager of E-CARD, Company established in the year 2000 for development of mobile and web based services. Among the implemented project of Dimitar Ganev are Universal prepaid billing card E-CARD - released in 2000 year on the Bulgarian market and in this first year of its creation winner of the Bite Expo Award; Interactive web sites, games and SMS applications for the most successful TV shows in Bulgaria - Big Brother, Vip Brother, Star Academy, Music Idol, Who Wants To Be a Millionaire (Stani Bogat), Sdelka ili Ne; National IQ test (Test the Nation) – web site and real-time internet test; Football League - Online football manager game.

The others about him:

Kiril Apostolov: Mitko is really cool and this is the reason why we have elected him at the BWA. He is very demanding, always strict and fair. He is a main partner in one of the best web companies and you can easily tell that by the awards they have had. I truly hope the unification of the whole branch, which we achieved a year ago, will be covered by Mitko in a very positive direction.

Yanislav Tankov: I believe people like him are the motive power for the development of the branch to a worldwide level. I am glad he is also a friend of mine. The fact he has undertaken the demanding task to be Chairman of the BOD of the BWA and has already achieved positive results in the association’s activities is a statement in itself that Mr Ganev has become publically engaged.

Pogled newspaper, issue 33
16 August 2008
page 18
Section: “Director’s Word”
By Elitsa Dimova