Internet service subscribers left in the lurch by the closure of Cruisenet over the weekend will have the opportunity to preserve their domain addresses and their data.

Canufly.net, a locally owned Internet service provider headed by Michael Nassour, bought the magnolia.net name from Cruisenet Monday afternoon in an attempt to lure customers to his new company.

Cruisenet, which is based on Jackson, bought Magnolianet, started in Vicksburg, in 1999. Those customers got a message on their computers saying that the firm would be out of business Monday, meaning personal and business users of the Internet would be without access and that electronic mail would not be delivered.

“We have purchased the magnolia.net domain name and we also bought the servers where the user data, home page and Web page, is stored,” Nassour said today. “No one will lose any data.”

The demise of Cruisenet left both business customers and private individuals scrambling for another Internet service provider, of which there a many based all around the world. Charges range from free for those willing to endure commercials to about $20 per month.

Nassour said Canufly does not have the telephone lines to handle a large influx of Cruisenet/Magnolianet customers but that is being changed rapidly.

“We have ordered more phone lines and some of these will be installed by Wednesday,” he said.

He estimated Magnolianet had about 3,000 customers, 1,400 of which are in Vicksburg.

No one from Cruisenet has been available to explain the sudden closure.