video compression [geek thread]

[adam clark]

I heard the same,but in this article they are almost accusing him of ripping of other peoples technology...............LOL

(have to be a fairfax member)
http://newsstore.com.au/apps/viewDocume ... 24PT6FV5AP


MWC voices suspicions over $16m software buy
Author: John Davidson
Date: 22/09/2004
Words: 450
Source: afr
Publication: Financial Review
Section: IT


Adam Clark, the originator of video compression technology he sold for $16 million to Media World Communications, may have used off-the-shelf, open-source compression algorithms as the basis of his controversial technology, Media World Communications has alleged.

Adams Platform, the software that Mr Clark claimed would offer DVD-quality video over startlingly modest internet connections, appears to use a freely available compression technology known as On2 VP3, MWC told the Australian Stock Exchange.

On2 Technologies, a US company, turned its VP3 compression software into an open-source project in 2001, after it had already been superseded by better compression algorithms. At the time, On2 promoted VP3 as delivering VHS quality video steams over 200 kbps internet links - impressive, but still a far cry from the DVD quality over 56 kbps links that Mr Clark promoted for his Adams Platform software.

Media World Communications, a former mining company that was seeking to re-list on the ASX, says it bought Adams Platform from Mr Clark and his associates in tranches over the past several years, giving Mr Clark $16 million in fees and costs for the technology.

Last year, before it had full access to the software, MWC had Adams Platform tested by an independent US tester, Kevin Tolly, who confirmed all of Mr Clark's claims.

Mr Tolly's report appeared in a prospectus issued by MWC in April, when it sought to raise $7.2 million to further develop the platform.

In an exchange of emails with the The Australian Financial Review last week, Mr Tolly confirmed that he had tested Adams Platform and found it performed just as Mr Clark claimed. He said that "aside from [Mr Clark] buying pizza and burgers during testing", he received no payment whatsoever from Mr Clark or his associates.

But MWC chairman Michael Ramsden warned that MWC had been unable to replicate the results reported by Mr Tolly. He told the AFR that the best results that MWC's own technicians had been able to obtain were around 100 times slower than the company had been expecting when it bought the software.

As a result of that internal testing by its own consultants, MWC informed the ASX on Monday evening that it had terminated its consulting agreement with Mr Clark, and was investigating legal redress to seek compensation for shareholders.

Mr Clark could not be reached for comment yesterday.

[adam clark]

Sorry about that.

[marc]

Entrepreneur may put up funds
By Fleur Leyden
September 24, 2004

Page Tools
Email to a friend Printer format
Entrepreneur Adam Clark vowed yesterday to protect shareholders of Media World Communications, saying he would fight for his technology to be commercialised.

Mr Clark, who was sacked as a consultant to the company on Monday and refuses to resign from the board, did not rule out buying back the Adams Platform Technology from MWC, which went into administration on Wednesday.

"I have to speak to the administrator and see which way he wants to go," Mr Clark said.

"I might look at putting investment into the company, buying some shares to make sure it has a very positive cash situation.

"I might offer to buy the technology off the administrator or maybe assist the administrator to get the company out of administration and put together the right board to move forward."

On Wednesday it also emerged that technology specialist The Tolly Group had reviewed its favourable report on the technology, saying Mr Clark had deceived it.

MWC relied on the report, which claimed APT was able to compress high-quality video data and send it down normal telephone lines, in coming to market and raising funds to relist.

Mr Clark yesterday told The Age that The Tolly Group's backflip was a "major contradiction".

"I am trying to get onto (Tolly Group chief executive) Kevin Tolly to talk to him about it and he hasn't been taking any of my calls," Mr Clark said.

He said he was helping the Australian Securities and Investments Commission with its inquiries and would work with administrator Craig Crosbie of insolvency firm PBB to get a positive outcome for shareholders.

"I will fight to make my technology see the light of day and I will fight to protect the shareholders," he said.

"A lot of people don't want to see it get the light of day and I don't know what's going on there ... you've got to ask yourself the question, what is going on?"

Mr Clark said he and his father and fellow director Graeme Clark were being ostracised by the board and that it was "melodramatic" for MWC chairman Michael Ramsden and deputy chairman John Tatoulis to say a court order was required to have the one and only disc containing information on the Tolly tests removed from a vault for independent testing.

"We are going to authorise everything," he said.

[Miles]

Ridiculous. If you've got some amazing algorithm like he says he has, it doesn't take however many years it's been so far to get it to market. The guy's a habitual liar.

[adam clark]

I agree.
This guy actually believes his own bullshit.
Or it's a ploy to save a freeze on his assets.

Take his money and then throw the little prick in jail.

[loophole]

I worked with Adam Clark and his group of wierd people in the claimed events and audio visual company.

He is a spoilt child! Owes loads of money and is in the middle of a number of legal actions.

Anybody want to give him a call on his 'private' mobile number to get some answers send me a PM and I'll give it to you. He does generally answer, it could be fun.

Marc you wouldn't happen to be Marcou would you?

[marc]

Marc you wouldn't happen to be Marcou would you?

Afraid not - just marc...

[marc]

IT'S

A

BEAUTIFUL

THING

CLICK

[Karsten]

Mr Crosbie said he had decided to take legal action against Mr Clark
after receiving a forensic technology report from PricewaterhouseCoopers based on
analysis of computer disks stored in a Westpac vault in Melbourne.

While I know he is completely wrong, how can they do this? Does that mean anything
we store in the bank or online is not safe? I read this:

The investigations into MWC have been complex and exhaustive," Mr
Crosbie said. "The technical experts " were the necessary final step to determine
whether legal proceedings against Mr Clark and his related companies could be
initiated."

I thought investigators could only do this once there was a case against you, not to get a case together?

[marc]

from what i understand, the technology was so far fetched and the sceptics were yelling so loudly that adam had to put a copy of the technology on disk in a bank vault that could be used as verification if things went sour...

if that's true, then i suppose they got access to those disks...

[loophole]

The reality opf the situation is that the disks stored in the Westpac vault do not belong to Adam Clark but are owned by Media World. He signed over the ownership of the IP to MWC earlier this year (and boy do I remember those happy smiling faces and the clicking of much champagne glasses as the 'directors' who had invested their time felt they would make a load of money. Only a few short months later, Adrian Jensen, Marcou, Bala and the rest were looking veyr po faced as they were all scked and even Clarkie and his parents are looking rough these days.

The bottom line is that he'll end up in the clinker, eating porridge and will be some big butch guy's bitch.

Don't be fooled - he ripped of many invester to the tune of millions, stashed the cash away in a pub business, runs a pokey little laughable events management company that is permantly in debt and an AV company that has been run into the ground through the incompetence of both himself and his previous general manager.

As an insight to his mind, last year his AV company (Centre Stage) was doing the staging and audio for a charity called the Bone Marrow Doner Intitue. He held then to ransom and threatened to pull the plug on their life saving event unless they paid him $79,000 (of which he personally made about $40,000 in profit). The charity had to go into debt to pay what he wanted and only just managed to break even on the whole thing. Thats the man we are talking about here.

He fooled investers, fooled technology people and has been proven to be a liar and a cheat. I think he'll end up in Majorca just like Skase!

[marc]

I wonder how John Tatoulis is feeling right about now...

[Miles]

Jesus christ, and I thought he was an arsehole before. That story about the BMDI makes my fucking blood boil. If I see this guy on the street I'll punch him in the face.

[marc]

be careful - apparantly he has bodyguards at the moment

[loophole]

Last time I saw John - he was a very nervous looking guy!

[marc]

He actually seemed like a nice enough guy, as did Jensen - they just got caught up in the wrong scam

in other news:
http://www.heraldsun.news.com.au/common/story_page/0,5478,11580215%255E664,00.html

[bertieb]

Marc,

Not sure if you have read the latest creditors letter, but it goes into detail of what PWC have found.

Naturally, it completely contradicts what the Toolly Group (as well as CSIRO, Monash etc etc) were saying.

I remeber one of the Fin Review articles talking about John (?) Tolly saying to the AFR that the techonology fully works, and then the very next day saying he can 'understand' the anomalies found by MWC, and then no more word from him since then.

Its so very obviously a scam - but it must have been one hell of a sohpisticated one, to fool so many people. PWC talk about the APT generating both a video file and a reference file, with the reference file being heaps smaller than the original file. When the ref file is "played" it just simply located the compressed file and plays that.

But this can obviously only work if the compressed file/orignial file is accessible. So Clark either piped it into the receiving system via some clever WiFi or the old "CAT cable in the power line trick", or by some other smoke and mirrors he already had the file on the receiving end.

Marc you said you saw a number of demonstrations and you were going to conduct your own tests, including clean hard drives etc etc. So you better than anyone here could conceiivably have an idea of how he did it.

Can you shed any light ?

[marc]

i have my speculations, but that's all they are - speculations...

unfortunately, i still don't know how it was done, and in reality probably know just as much as you do about it.

the only real difference is that i've seen it, and seen bandwidth graphs and traffic sniffers connected to the segment that claimed to stream the video file.

unfortunately i was forced to sign a non-disclosure statement at the time, so i have to be very careful about what i say... having said that, i honestly didn't see anything that hasn't already been brought out in the media.

[Karsten]

People are greedy - they obviously assumed it was worth the risk. Clark was greedy too and assumed the scam was worth the risk too. One finally caught up to the other.