Yes (well, employer was/is a paying customer). If they're shutting it down because it isn't sustainable, that's fine, I don't expect them to run the service as

Yes (well, employer was/is a paying customer). If they're shutting it down because it isn't sustainable, that's fine, I don't expect them to run the service as a charity (we have freenode for that!) - but that doesn't seem to be the case.