Ian Clarke
Encyclopedia
Ian Clarke is the original designer and lead developer of Freenet
. Clarke grew up in Navan
, County Meath
, Ireland
.
Clarke was educated at Dundalk Grammar School
and while there twice came first in the Senior Chemical, Physical, and Mathematical section of the Young Scientist Exhibition
. The first time, in 1993, was with a project entitled "The C Neural Network Construction Kit". The second time, the following year, was with a project entitled "Mapping Internal Variations in Translucency within a Translucent Object using Beams of Light".
In 1995 Clarke left Dundalk to study Computer Science and Artificial Intelligence at the University of Edinburgh
, Scotland. While at Edinburgh Clarke became president of the then dormant Artificial Intelligence Society, resulting in its revival. In Clarke's final year at Edinburgh, he completed his "final year project", entitled "A Distributed, Decentralised Information Storage and Retrieval System". In July 1999, after receiving a 'B' grade for his paper, Clarke decided to release it to the Internet and invited volunteers to help implement his design. The resulting free software project became known as Freenet
, and attracted significant attention from the mainstream and technology media.
In August 1999 Clarke began his first full time job as a software developer in the Space Division of Logica plc, a London-based software consulting company. In February 2000 Clarke left Logica to join a small software start-up called Instil Ltd. In August 2000 Clarke left London for Santa Monica, California
, where he co-founded Uprizer Inc, with the intent of commercialising some of his Freenet-related ideas. In January 2001, Uprizer Inc. successfully raised $4 million in Series A round
venture funding from investors including Intel Capital.
In March 2001, Clarke published an article describing FairShare
, developed in collaboration with Uprizer's co-founders, Steven Starr
and Rob Kramer. Clarke was concerned that copyright would become increasingly difficult to enforce in the Internet age, the goal of Fairshare was to provide an alternative to copyright as a way to compensate creators.
In September 2002, after leaving Uprizer, Clarke formed Cematics LLC to explore a variety of new ideas and opportunities. Cematics LLC developed a number of products including Locutus, a P2P search application for the Enterprise, WhittleBit - a search engine which learns from user Feedback, and 3D17, a web-based collaborative editing
tool.
In October 2003 Clarke decided to leave the United States to return to Edinburgh, Scotland. In December 2004, Clarke began work on Dijjer, a distributed P2P web cache, and Indy
, a collaborative music discovery system, both in conjunction with ChangeTv, a company founded by his long-time collaborator, Steven Starr
, who later brought in Clarke and Oliver Luckett as co-founders. In 2003, he was named to the MIT
Technology Review
TR100
as one of the top 100 innovators in the world under the age of 35.
ChangeTv changed its name to Revver Inc.
and unveiled a new website in November 2005 which was designed to allow the creators of short videos to earn revenue from their creativity. Revver was one of several user-created video websites unveiled in late 2005, but was the first such website to financially compensate video creators, and is reminiscent of Fairshare.
In December 2006 Clarke left Revver and moved to Austin, Texas
. There Clarke founded a new company, SenseArray, which is a drop-in ad targeting engine based on a proprietary algorithm developed by Clarke.
In October 2009 Clarke released Swarm, a novel approach to distributing computation across multiple computers in a manner largely transparent to the programmer.
Freenet
Freenet is a decentralized, censorship-resistant distributed data store originally designed by Ian Clarke. According to Clarke, Freenet aims to provide freedom of speech through a peer-to-peer network with strong protection of anonymity; as part of supporting its users' freedom, Freenet is free and...
. Clarke grew up in Navan
Navan
-People:Navan was the childhood home of Pierce Brosnan, who appeared in the television series Remington Steele and was the fifth film actor to play James Bond. TV personality Hector Ó hEochagáin, and comedians Dylan Moran and Tommy Tiernan also hail from Navan....
, County Meath
County Meath
County Meath is a county in Ireland. It is part of the Mid-East Region and is also located in the province of Leinster. It is named after the ancient Kingdom of Mide . Meath County Council is the local authority for the county...
, Ireland
Ireland
Ireland is an island to the northwest of continental Europe. It is the third-largest island in Europe and the twentieth-largest island on Earth...
.
Clarke was educated at Dundalk Grammar School
Dundalk Grammar School
Dundalk Grammar School, is a fee paying post-primary school in Dundalk, County Louth. The school is a mixed school, it offers weekly boarding to students...
and while there twice came first in the Senior Chemical, Physical, and Mathematical section of the Young Scientist Exhibition
Young Scientist and Technology Exhibition
The BT Young Scientist and Technology Exhibition , commonly called "the Young Scientist", is an annual competition that has been held in Dublin, Ireland every January since 1965 for encouraging interest in science in secondary and primary schools, currently sponsored by BT Ireland...
. The first time, in 1993, was with a project entitled "The C Neural Network Construction Kit". The second time, the following year, was with a project entitled "Mapping Internal Variations in Translucency within a Translucent Object using Beams of Light".
In 1995 Clarke left Dundalk to study Computer Science and Artificial Intelligence at the University of Edinburgh
University of Edinburgh
The University of Edinburgh, founded in 1583, is a public research university located in Edinburgh, the capital of Scotland, and a UNESCO World Heritage Site. The university is deeply embedded in the fabric of the city, with many of the buildings in the historic Old Town belonging to the university...
, Scotland. While at Edinburgh Clarke became president of the then dormant Artificial Intelligence Society, resulting in its revival. In Clarke's final year at Edinburgh, he completed his "final year project", entitled "A Distributed, Decentralised Information Storage and Retrieval System". In July 1999, after receiving a 'B' grade for his paper, Clarke decided to release it to the Internet and invited volunteers to help implement his design. The resulting free software project became known as Freenet
Freenet
Freenet is a decentralized, censorship-resistant distributed data store originally designed by Ian Clarke. According to Clarke, Freenet aims to provide freedom of speech through a peer-to-peer network with strong protection of anonymity; as part of supporting its users' freedom, Freenet is free and...
, and attracted significant attention from the mainstream and technology media.
In August 1999 Clarke began his first full time job as a software developer in the Space Division of Logica plc, a London-based software consulting company. In February 2000 Clarke left Logica to join a small software start-up called Instil Ltd. In August 2000 Clarke left London for Santa Monica, California
Santa Monica, California
Santa Monica is a beachfront city in western Los Angeles County, California, US. Situated on Santa Monica Bay, it is surrounded on three sides by the city of Los Angeles — Pacific Palisades on the northwest, Brentwood on the north, West Los Angeles on the northeast, Mar Vista on the east, and...
, where he co-founded Uprizer Inc, with the intent of commercialising some of his Freenet-related ideas. In January 2001, Uprizer Inc. successfully raised $4 million in Series A round
Series A round
A Series A round is the name typically given to a company's first significant round of venture funding in the Silicon Valley model of startup company formation....
venture funding from investors including Intel Capital.
In March 2001, Clarke published an article describing FairShare
Fairshare
Fairshare Voting Reform is a cross-party and non-party organisation set up in February 2001 to campaign for the introduction of the Single Transferable Vote system of Proportional Representation for local government elections in Scotland...
, developed in collaboration with Uprizer's co-founders, Steven Starr
Steven Starr
Steven Starr is the producer of FLOW: For Love Of Water, and the founder of Revver.-Background:Steven Starr was born on Long Island. Starr started his career in high school as a volunteer journalist at WLIR-FM in New York, pursued a degree in Radio, TV and Film at the University of...
and Rob Kramer. Clarke was concerned that copyright would become increasingly difficult to enforce in the Internet age, the goal of Fairshare was to provide an alternative to copyright as a way to compensate creators.
In September 2002, after leaving Uprizer, Clarke formed Cematics LLC to explore a variety of new ideas and opportunities. Cematics LLC developed a number of products including Locutus, a P2P search application for the Enterprise, WhittleBit - a search engine which learns from user Feedback, and 3D17, a web-based collaborative editing
Collaborative editing
Collaborative editing is the practice of groups producing works together through individual contributions. Effective choices in group awareness, participation, and coordination are critical to successful collaborative writing outcomes. Most usually it is applied to textual documents or...
tool.
In October 2003 Clarke decided to leave the United States to return to Edinburgh, Scotland. In December 2004, Clarke began work on Dijjer, a distributed P2P web cache, and Indy
Indy (software)
Indy is a music discovery tool for computers with an Internet connection. It uses collaborative filtering to automatically download music the user is likely to enjoy listening to. Indy is similar to iRATE radio, but does not include a built-in file manager. Indy automatically downloads music from...
, a collaborative music discovery system, both in conjunction with ChangeTv, a company founded by his long-time collaborator, Steven Starr
Steven Starr
Steven Starr is the producer of FLOW: For Love Of Water, and the founder of Revver.-Background:Steven Starr was born on Long Island. Starr started his career in high school as a volunteer journalist at WLIR-FM in New York, pursued a degree in Radio, TV and Film at the University of...
, who later brought in Clarke and Oliver Luckett as co-founders. In 2003, he was named to the MIT
Massachusetts Institute of Technology
The Massachusetts Institute of Technology is a private research university located in Cambridge, Massachusetts. MIT has five schools and one college, containing a total of 32 academic departments, with a strong emphasis on scientific and technological education and research.Founded in 1861 in...
Technology Review
Technology Review
Technology Review is a magazine published by the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. It was founded in 1899 as "The Technology Review", and was re-launched without the "The" in its name on April 23, 1998 under then publisher R. Bruce Journey...
TR100
TR35
The TR35 is an annual list published by MIT Technology Review magazine, naming the world's top 35 innovators under the age of 35.Some of the most famous winners of the award include Larry Page and Sergey Brin , Linus Torvalds , Jerry Yang , Jonathan Ive , Mark Zuckerberg...
as one of the top 100 innovators in the world under the age of 35.
ChangeTv changed its name to Revver Inc.
Revver
Revver is a video sharing website that hosts user-generated content. Revver attaches advertising to user-submitted video clips and originally offered to share ad revenue with the video creators. Videos could be displayed, downloaded and shared across the web in either Apple QuickTime or FLV format...
and unveiled a new website in November 2005 which was designed to allow the creators of short videos to earn revenue from their creativity. Revver was one of several user-created video websites unveiled in late 2005, but was the first such website to financially compensate video creators, and is reminiscent of Fairshare.
In December 2006 Clarke left Revver and moved to Austin, Texas
Austin, Texas
Austin is the capital city of the U.S. state of :Texas and the seat of Travis County. Located in Central Texas on the eastern edge of the American Southwest, it is the fourth-largest city in Texas and the 14th most populous city in the United States. It was the third-fastest-growing large city in...
. There Clarke founded a new company, SenseArray, which is a drop-in ad targeting engine based on a proprietary algorithm developed by Clarke.
In October 2009 Clarke released Swarm, a novel approach to distributing computation across multiple computers in a manner largely transparent to the programmer.