I don't what host he has or what the "dispute" is, but given that the host severed telnet(I've never had this) and FTP to hold the site hostage, there must be some seriously bad blood there for some reason. Could be a billing thing, could be a move to try to force him to renew for a year or whatever to keep him from moving. Those are the only specultations that I can offer that might be unresolvable.
