Menu
Home
People
Places
Arts
History
Plants & Animals
Science
Life & Culture
Technology
Reference.org
ClariNet
open-in-new
<h2 id="founding">Founding</h2> <p>In the late 1980s, the <a href="/facts/Internet/Xw1rVvJU">Internet</a> in the United States consisted of a variety of regional hubs connected by the <a href="/facts/NSFNet/b95QF5hR">NSFNet</a>. Overtly commercial traffic was not permitted due to the <a href="/facts/NSFNet/b95QF5hR">Acceptable Use Policy</a>. Templeton reports convincing <a href="/facts/Stephen_Wolff/tA7j4nb6">Stephen Wolff</a>, director of NSFNet, that a news service sold to universities and research labs on the internet for use in research and education would not violate the AUP, even though it was a for-profit effort. </p><p>It has some claim<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:1" href="#fn:1"><sup>1</sup></a><a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:2" href="#fn:2"><sup>2</sup></a> to being the earliest company created to use the internet as a business platform, commonly known as a <a href="/facts/Dot-com_company/AMucgbRW">dot-com company</a>. </p><p>The initial announcement of a for-profit internet-based business was announced in June 1989 <a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:3" href="#fn:3"><sup>3</sup></a> and generated significant controversy<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:4" href="#fn:4"><sup>4</sup></a> with some expressing fear of a destruction of the non-profit culture of the network. The first subscribing customer was <a href="/facts/Stanford_University/JEQeF9z2">Stanford University</a>. </p> <h2 id="business">Business</h2> <p>ClariNet began publishing the news of <a href="/facts/UPI/azL29QsF">UPI</a> and <a href="/facts/Newsbytes/sFGHB4DP">Newsbytes</a> and other typical newspaper wire sources. It also included material form newspaper syndicates, such as the popular <a href="/facts/Dave_Barry/ShXqELdk">Dave Barry</a> column and the first internet based comic strips, including <i><a href="/facts/Dilbert/YSh42bzo">Dilbert</a></i> by <a href="/facts/Scott_Adams/ME5ljQxA">Scott Adams</a>. The 'Street Price Report' published a database of advertised prices for computer products in magazines, presaging the creation of <a href="/facts/Comparison_shopping_website/0Y6z92CI">Comparison shopping websites</a> later in the decade. <a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:5" href="#fn:5"><sup>5</sup></a> </p><p>In 1994 ClariNet switched from UPI to the <a href="/facts/Associated_Press/b4T5P1bT">Associated Press</a> and <a href="/facts/Reuters/tDd1EUrd">Reuters</a>. Other services added included the Commerce Business Daily, PR Newswire and Business Wire </p><p>ClariNet grew quickly for the pre-dot-com-boom era, and was the highest ranked dot-com company on the 1996 <a href="/facts/Inc._(magazine)/D9pj1B6y">Inc. Magazine</a> 500.<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:6" href="#fn:6"><sup>6</sup></a><a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:7" href="#fn:7"><sup>7</sup></a> </p><p>ClariNet sold site-wide subscriptions. At the time of its acquisition by Individual, Inc. in 1997 it reported 1.5 million paying subscribers.<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:8" href="#fn:8"><sup>8</sup></a> </p> <h2 id="free-speech">Free speech</h2> <p>ClariNet was a plaintiff/appellant in the United States Supreme Court case <a href="/facts/Reno_v._American_Civil_Liberties_Union/TYMpYFoL">Reno v. American Civil Liberties Union</a>. ClariNet's CEO testified that the <a href="/facts/Communications_Decency_Act/V3rrzQCV">Communications Decency Act</a> created a chilling effect for online publishers.<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:9" href="#fn:9"><sup>9</sup></a> The appellants prevailed 9-0 and the decency sections were struck down. <a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:10" href="#fn:10"><sup>10</sup></a> </p> <h2 id="science-fiction-ebooks">Science fiction eBooks</h2> <p>In 1992 ClariNet announced a subscription "all you can read" book service for Science Fiction readers called the "Library of Tomorrow."<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:11" href="#fn:11"><sup>11</sup></a><a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:12" href="#fn:12"><sup>12</sup></a> In 1993, it published, in coordination with the Science Fiction <a href="/facts/Hugo_Awards/E7VlgHeF">Hugo Awards</a> an <a href="/facts/E-book/yrBWpU8E">E-book</a> anthology containing all the nominees for the 1993 Hugo Award, presented at the <a href="/facts/51st_World_Science_Fiction_Convention/17RFbvUN">51st World Science Fiction Convention</a> in San Francisco. The anthology also contained all <a href="/facts/Nebula_Award/CEQB8MhL">Nebula Award</a> short fiction nominees for that year. With 5 full novels (most still only available in hardcover) ClariNet claimed this was the largest anthology or e-Book of current fiction published under one cover. It also featured a hypertext version of <a href="/facts/A_Fire_Upon_the_Deep/VRtF3GNz">A Fire Upon the Deep</a>, the to-be-Hugo-winning novel by <a href="/facts/Vernor_Vinge/QrzLqBKA">Vernor Vinge</a>.<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:13" href="#fn:13"><sup>13</sup></a> The anthology was available for download over the internet, and on CD-ROM. In particular, it was made available to voters in the Hugo awards to allow them to read the works in time to vote on them for the award. The publication of such a "Hugo Packet" became a common practice in later years. <a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:14" href="#fn:14"><sup>14</sup></a> </p> <h2 id="alumni">Alumni</h2> <ul><li><a href="/facts/Brad_Templeton/bh9XAuJv">Brad Templeton</a></li> <li><a href="/facts/Don_Woods_(programmer)/KUICkHoa">Don Woods (programmer)</a></li> <li>David H. Brandin</li></ul> <h2 id="see-also">See also</h2> <ul><li><a href="/facts/History_of_the_Internet/frRuaPrU">History of the Internet</a></li> <li><a href="/facts/Dot-com_company/AMucgbRW">dot-com company</a></li> <li><a href="/facts/USENET/lYJWFBR6">USENET</a></li> <li><a href="/facts/UUNET/ExCXPTcE">UUNET</a></li></ul> <h2 id="external-links">External links</h2> <ul><li><a href="http://www.clari.net">[1]</a> - Remnant page</li> <li><a href="http://www.netfunny.com/hugo.html">[2]</a> - Product page for Hugo anthology</li> <li><a href="http://www.netfunny.com/rhf/rhfclari.html">[3]</a> - Account by Templeton of how the rec.humor.funny newsgroup led to the creation of ClariNet</li></ul> <h2 id="references">References</h2> <ol> <li id="fn:1"><p>David Coursey, "20 Years Ago Today: Birth of the Dot-Com Era", PC World, June 08, 2009 <a href="https://www.pcworld.com/article/166302/20_years_of_dot_com_era.html" target="_blank">https://www.pcworld.com/article/166302/20_years_of_dot_com_era.html</a> <a href="#fnref:1" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li> <li id="fn:2"><p>Philip Baczewski, "The Internet Unleashed", 1994 <a href="https://books.google.com/books?id=BVXbAAAAMAAJ&q=clarinet+communications" target="_blank">https://books.google.com/books?id=BVXbAAAAMAAJ&q=clarinet+communications</a> <a href="#fnref:2" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li> <li id="fn:3"><p>"Live News & Professional Electronic Publications in USENET Format", June 9, 1989 <a href="https://groups.google.com/forum/#!msg/news.admin/r53GDlfyUro/6b0SU6BQO5kJ" target="_blank">https://groups.google.com/forum/#!msg/news.admin/r53GDlfyUro/6b0SU6BQO5kJ</a> <a href="#fnref:3" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li> <li id="fn:4"><p>"news.admin USNET thread", June 1989 <a href="https://groups.google.com/forum/#!topic/news.admin/r53GDlfyUro" target="_blank">https://groups.google.com/forum/#!topic/news.admin/r53GDlfyUro</a> <a href="#fnref:4" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li> <li id="fn:5"><p>"Laser Printers -- ClariNet Street Price Report", comp.text.desktop USNET October 18, 1991 <a href="https://groups.google.com/forum/#!topic/comp.text.desktop/Mr13huI-pKk" target="_blank">https://groups.google.com/forum/#!topic/comp.text.desktop/Mr13huI-pKk</a> <a href="#fnref:5" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li> <li id="fn:6"><p>"A collection of 24 short articles about companies from the 1997 Inc. 500." Inc. Magazine, October 15, 1997 <a href="https://www.inc.com/magazine/19971015/1486.html" target="_blank">https://www.inc.com/magazine/19971015/1486.html</a> <a href="#fnref:6" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li> <li id="fn:7"><p>"The fastest-growing private companies in America in 1997, arranged alphabetically." Inc. Magazine, October 15, 1997 <a href="https://www.inc.com/magazine/19971015/1487.html" target="_blank">https://www.inc.com/magazine/19971015/1487.html</a> <a href="#fnref:7" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li> <li id="fn:8"><p>Reuters, "Individual Inc. Will Buy ClariNet" Los Angeles Times, June 17, 1997 <a href="https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1997-06-17-fi-4245-story.html" target="_blank">https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1997-06-17-fi-4245-story.html</a> <a href="#fnref:8" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li> <li id="fn:9"><p>UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT EASTERN DISTRICT OF PENNSYLVANIA, Civ. No. 96-963, February 8, 1996 <a href="https://www.epic.org/free_speech/censorship/lawsuit/complaint.html" target="_blank">https://www.epic.org/free_speech/censorship/lawsuit/complaint.html</a> <a href="#fnref:9" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li> <li id="fn:10"><p>"CLARINET AFFIDAVIT IN ACLU, ET AL V. RENO", February, 1996 <a href="https://www.aclu.org/legal-document/clarinet-affidavit-aclu-et-al-v-reno" target="_blank">https://www.aclu.org/legal-document/clarinet-affidavit-aclu-et-al-v-reno</a> <a href="#fnref:10" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li> <li id="fn:11"><p>Tom Easton, "HERE’S SOMETHING NEW: A COLLECTION OF TOM’S E-BOOK REVIEWS!", July 11, 2018 <a href="http://www.jandtbooks.com/2018/07/11/heres-something-new-a-collection-of-toms-e-book-reviews/" target="_blank">http://www.jandtbooks.com/2018/07/11/heres-something-new-a-collection-of-toms-e-book-reviews/</a> <a href="#fnref:11" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li> <li id="fn:12"><p>F. Paul Wilson, "E-Publishing, Part 1: In The Beginning", Information Week, January 19, 2012 <a href="https://www.informationweek.com/e-publishing-part-1-in-the-beginning/d/d-id/1102367" target="_blank">https://www.informationweek.com/e-publishing-part-1-in-the-beginning/d/d-id/1102367</a> <a href="#fnref:12" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li> <li id="fn:13"><p>Jason W Ellis, "Hugo and Nebula Anthology 2013, CD-ROM Source for New Project", January 26, 2013 <a href="https://dynamicsubspace.net/2013/01/26/hugo-and-nebula-anthology-2013-cd-rom-source-for-new-project/" target="_blank">https://dynamicsubspace.net/2013/01/26/hugo-and-nebula-anthology-2013-cd-rom-source-for-new-project/</a> <a href="#fnref:13" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li> <li id="fn:14"><p>"Hugo Awards Voter Packets available for download" <a href="http://www.thehugoawards.org/category/voter-packet/" target="_blank">http://www.thehugoawards.org/category/voter-packet/</a> <a href="#fnref:14" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li> </ol>