Michael Malone (businessman)

Michael Malone is an Australian technology entrepreneur and business executive. He was the founder and Managing Director of the Perth-based telecommunications provider iinet starting the business in his garage. He is a pioneer of dial up access back in 1993 before the Internet became mainstream. Over the years he has been an advocate for Internet consumer rights as well participating in metadata debate. He was recently appointed as a non executive director of the NBNco in 2016.

Early life

Malone was born in Co Clare and migrated to Australia in 1978 with his parents and two brothers.^[1]

Education

Malone has a Bachelor of Science in Mathematics and Post Graduate Diploma in Education from The University of Western Australia.^[2]

Business career

Michael Malone and Michael O'Reilly founded iiNet in 1993, who started the business in a suburban garage in Perth as iiNet Technologies Pty Ltd. It began as one of the first Australian ISPs to offer TCP/IP Internet access, as opposed to the store-and-forward techniques (such as MHSnet) that were then in use at other ISPs. It claims it was the first ISP to offer PPP access in Australia, and to be the first to base operations on the then new Linux operating system.

The company outgrew its suburban home in 1995 and moved to CBD office accommodation yet its early growth during the Internet boom was hampered by the ability of Telstra (not releasing Bigpond as an ISP until 1997) to cope with the demand of needed telephone lines, and by the sheer competitive pressure in the Perth market, which had a comparative oversupply of low-cost providers. In 1996, iiNet successfully expanded into the Adelaide market under the name light.iinet.net.au (named after Colonel Light), in partnership with locals John Lindsay and Leigh Hart.

During his executive tenure at iiNet, Malone aggressively grew iiNet by making acquisitions over leading ISP all over the Australian market. He grew the company to become the third biggest ISP in Australia. He was also a passionate advocate for Internet consumer rights in regards to privacy as well contributing to the metadata debate.^[3] Malone was a lead witness and spokesperson in the Roadshow Films Pty Ltd v iiNet Ltd copyright case that was successful in the High Court of Australia.^[4]

Malone stepped aside as Managing Director in early 2014 after taking a three-week holiday in Argentina which was supposed to be a three-month to six month sabbatical.^[5][6] In 2015, iiNet was acquired by TPG Telecom.^[7][8]

He joined the board of nbnco in 2016.^[9] Malone has also served on the board of Seven West Media, SpeedCast, Superloop and Dreamscape Limited. He is the chairman of a Perth-based information security company Diamond Cyber.^[9][10]

References

1. ↑ Echo, Billy Cantwell, Irish (2014-06-27). "9 Irish-Australians Who Made It Big In Business". Business Insider Australia. Retrieved 2017-01-13. 
2. ↑ ltd., nbn co. "Michael Malone appointed to nbn Board | nbn - Australia's new broadband network". www.nbnco.com.au. Retrieved 2017-01-13. 
3. ↑ "Malone on metadata laws: 'they suck'". 2015-03-27. Retrieved 2017-01-13. 
4. ↑ Template:Citynews
5. ↑ Ramli, David. "'Long dark road ahead': iiNet boss Michael Malone walks away after 20 years". The Sydney Morning Herald. Retrieved 2017-01-13. 
6. ↑ Philipson, Graeme. "iTWire - Michael Malone resigns from iiNet". www.itwire.com. Retrieved 2017-01-13. 
7. ↑ "TPG's iiNet takeover is 'bittersweet' for Michael Malone". iTnews. Retrieved 2017-01-13. 
8. ↑ Ramli, Tess Ingram and David (2015-07-27). "iiNet founder Michael Malone finally backs TPG Telecom takeover". The Sydney Morning Herald. Retrieved 2017-01-13. 
9. 1 2 Tucker, Harry (2016-04-22). "Former iiNet CEO and founder Michael Malone has joined the NBN board". Business Insider Australia. Retrieved 2017-01-13. 
10. ↑ "Our Company: Security Through the Offensive Lens | Diamond Cyber Security". Diamond Cyber Security. Retrieved 2017-02-11.