Restored freeserve accounts CAN be accessed in the usual way, not only as webmail

I first had Freeserve as my dial-up
ISP then they changed to wanadoo and later orange. I recieved a letter from them some weeks back telling me that they intended to stop access to the internet through dial-up and would change me over to a slower broadband package for less than what I was paying for dial-up. And all I needed to do, was wait for the conectivity components. Or if I did not want this I should cancel my ISP by 3 weeks from the date of reciept of the letter. I am still waiting for the components does anyone know what is going on with this provider? any views on this would be most welcome

Thats interesting. Can an ISP stop you accessing your data even if you are not paying for the service.

I don't think they can (in the UK at least) as it would probably be an offence under the computer misuse act.

I recall a case of an IT developer putting a lock in a system he built that so that if he was not paid the system would stop working. 

He did not get paid, the system stopped working and he was found guilty of preventing access to data under the computer misuse act.