Web America Networks Inc, the ISP dumped by Gateway Inc last week, won a temporary restraining order against MCI WorldCom’s UUNet division over the weekend, only to have it taken away on Monday by a Texas court. The restraining order would have prevented UUNet from providing services to the 200,000 dial-up customers of Gateway’s own-label gateway.net service, which was provided by Web America under a deal signed in late 1997. But after both sides spent yesterday in court, a judge in Texas had dissolved the restraining order and Gateway was claiming full victory. The company said a move by WAN for a similar order in a Delaware court had also been denied Monday. Last week, Gateway announced that it was dropping Web America and suing the company for poor levels of service. Gateway had always been very secretive about who was supplying the access behind gateway.net, but we tracked it down to WAN last May. Nevertheless, Gateway still tried to make out that it was supplying the service itself. The PC maker claims it has already begun switching its customers over to UUNet, a move which WAN insists was based entirely on profitability concerns and not because of poor service – and therefore breaches the terms of its agreement with Gateway. Late Monday, Gateway issued a statement that apologized to any customers who may have experienced service disruptions as a result of the legal action and promised that the transition of to UUNet is being carried out as quickly and smoothly as possible.
