This is the letter I sent out to all my clients (those with faxes anyway) on 24 June 2001. Here it is for all the world to see and with additional comments afterwards.

To all Horizen Internet Subscribers

On Saturday morning, the Horizen Internet server had to be removed from its Richmond location. All email and web sites running on the server will be down until Monday morning and the server can be relocated at West Melbourne. I apologise for the disruption of services. Barring difficulties I anticipate that the server should be up and running mid morning on Monday 25 June. And then continue to run !

Please check the last pages of this document for any revised settings that may be required.

Many of you are probably aware that Horizen operates an Internet server offering web and domain name hosting and email services. This service was initially provided by the webtime network which was owned by the Apple reseller Mac's Place in Richmond over the last few years. When many of the Apple resellers in Australia merged into the largest ever Apple reseller business called Buzzle, webtime became part of Buzzle late last year. Horizen was and still is an independent business.

Due to a combination of factors Buzzle went into liquidation early this year. KPMG, the appointed liquidators, have been looking for a buyer for Buzzle (and webtime) since then. This has been achieved. However, KPMG (the liquidators), Computers Now (the purchasers of webtime) and My Mac (the new business operating out of the Mac's Place premises in Richmond) have been unable to come to agreement regarding webtime's name, equipment and continued operation. I'm not sure of the exact details and communication involved between all of these parties but basically due to a phone call I received very late on Friday night I was forced to remove my server from Richmond to elsewhere to ensure continuing service for all my valued customers. Crucial backups and upgrades also needed to be made to the Horizen server.

Unfortunately due to the situation with Buzzle the Horizen server hasn't been providing the continuous service that it once did while webtime was owned by Mac's Place. However, I now believe that things will start to be stable again once. I can honestly say that the Horizen server has been up and running and has been providing service virtually continuously for almost 3 years. Due to problems at webtime caused by the liquidation of Buzzle, upline ISP's, KPMG and purchasers of the components of Buzzle you have not always been able to get access to your web site and/or email even though the Horizen server has been operating continuously over this whole period.

Thanks for your service, continued patronage and indeed patience over this difficult period. Please check for the reactivation of service on Monday morning. If there are any difficulties I will contact you by phone to keep you up with events as they occur.

Regards Mike Donato

(end of letter)

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Ok. Painful change but absolutely required as the proprietor of My Mac basically cut off all access to the Internet for webtime in Melbourne and thus indirectly myself (although he left my connection intact). You might say what a nasty person he is (others would use much more colourful words). In his defence I can only honestly say that he was apparently screwed big time by KPMG. He wasn't the owner of webtime but was still paying for the power that the webtime equipment was using and their phone bills (for a while anyway) and getting called up by webtime clients whenever they had a problem. And it wasn't even his business, but it was his premises. Anyway he spat the dummy big time with KPMG and Computers Now on Friday night resulting in the loss of service and my immediate forced move to another ISP and location. I have personally spoken to both resellers, but not KPMG, I can honestly say that both sides have their points of view but I wish that the My Mac owner had waited another 2-3 weeks until Computers Now were ready to do the transfer of equipment and services as it would then have occurred much less preciptiously, with less disruption to service and at least some warning that it was going to happen to both you and me.

There may be some court cases out of the matter yet as there were some seriously unhappy people yelling at each other that Friday night. Such is life.

Anyway my Horizen server is now getting up and running through Computers Now. The original, full time webtime administrator has moved onto bigger and better things. I was sorry to see him go as he was (especially with the benefit of hindsight) a very competent administrator. The new Internet technical staff at Computers Now are more numerous, highly intelligent and dedicated but still have a way to go before I can call them experienced in running an ISP. Hence the glitches in service that have been occuring since the original administrator left. But they definitely have the skills and resources to maintain the service in the manner that we became accustomed to with the orinal webtime that was started by Mac's Place. I am confident that they will get it right but they have a literal mountain of work at the moment due to the changes to the service since Friday.

Mike Donato