After some 400 of its 1,600 customers had their service disconnected April 14, DSL Designs filed a temporary injunction against Verizon. A judge in an Arizona court found that Verizon's action could lead to "irreparable" harm for the smaller DSL company and ordered Verizon to restore service.

Service to the 400 customers was reinstated by April 18, according to Dan Bohannon, network operator for DSL Designs. The company has promised that customers won't have to pay for the period when they were denied service.

While the judge upheld the injunction, no ruling has been made about whether Verizon acted within its legal rights to disconnect DSL Designs' customers, said Jonathan Davies, a spokesman for Verizon.

"We're confident we acted in compliance with the bankruptcy law, and we'll await the court's ruling," he said. A court hearing is scheduled for April 28.

A federal bankruptcy law, according to Davies, allows Verizon to disconnect customers if the phone company does not receive assurance from businesses that contract with them that they will pay Verizon for any charges accrued after the date of filing for bankruptcy.

When DSL Designs filed for bankruptcy in February, Verizon requested an assurance of payment but never heard back from the company, Davies said.

DSL Designs' contract with Verizon states that the latter cannot disconnect any of DSL Designs' customers without the company's authorization, Bohannon said.

According to both Bohannon and Neil Ridlinghafer, one of the founders of DSL Designs, the company received no notice from Verizon about the shutdown.

Davies maintains that Verizon lawyers had sent out a request for assurance of payment to DSL Designs, and in the absence of hearing from the company, acted within Verizon's legal rights to disconnect customers.

Ridlinghafer said he's been approached by an attorney with the California ISP Association who is handling claims against Verizon by other companies similar to DSL Designs. The attorney wants DSL Designs to join a class-action suit against Verizon, Ridlinghafer said.

Davies said he is not aware of legal disputes between Verizon and other ISP companies, but that the possibility exists.