Update ISP Review, disappeared off the Web some time on Tuesday. Is it a DNS rub-out? Apparently, not - the web site, a must-read for the UK ISP industry as well as for many users, was ambushed by NetisNet, its hosting company.

"Nextra, NetisNet's UK supplier, has unofficially cut the group for either an unpaid bill or abuse. We'd guess it's the unpaid bill option, isn't it always?," Editor-in-chief Mark Jackson writes.

Nick Lee, webmaster of www.spaced-out.org.uk, and another NetisNet customer ("and until now a very satisfied one") has sent us a copy of an email sent to him by a Netis staffer on Thursday.

"The current problem is that the internet connection service provider just went vanished.(Real problem to us)

"Yesterday i tried to get our servers back from the datacentre but couldn't get access to the datacentre.
"I am trying to sort it out... But it seems that this
may take quite a long time.

"At least 2-3 days...."

It's usual practice for companies to inform customers when they are disconnecting them. ISPr knew that there was a problem only when it was disconnected. And it had to chase down its Web host - or to be more precise Nextra, its Web host's upstream supplier - to find out what the problem was.

So is Nextra the company which will forever be known as the Web host that killed ISP Review. Luckily, for its sake, the answer is no.

ISPr is migrating to another host and some elements should be back and running tomorrow.

Data belonging to ISPr and other NetisNet UK customers resides on NetisNet servers. It would be churlish - and illegal - for Nextra to stop ISPr and other NetisNet from recovering their property in a timely fashion.

Nextra should not penalise NetisNet UK customers, because it is in dispute with their supplier.

As Spaced-Out's Tim Lee writes: "to my great agony I've no local backups, so, in short, I'm in trouble unless I can get the servers back with their 50-odd-megs worth of MySQL database on. (An Ikonboard forum with 1000-odd members)."

If it's Nextra bills that want paying, that discussion should be held separately between Nextra and NetisNet.

The alternative? An entirely avoidable PR disaster in the making.

ISPr has borrowed some forum space from a chum. You can get updates here ®