If you have been paying attention to the news, and if you are a Vonage subscriber or a fan of VoIP telephony, you know that Verizon has continued to beat up on Vonage in the courts. Several weeks ago, the courts sided with Verizon, and stated that Vonage was in violation of three (3) out of the seven (7) patents that Verizon had claimed. In addition, the court stated that Vonage had to pay Verizon $60 million (approx) for the violations.
Today brought an upholding of the injunction against Vonage, and the court had stated that as of 4/12/07, Vonage could continue to service current customers through the appeal process, but they could no longer taken on new customers. Several hours after this announcement, a higher court over-ruled this ruling, grating Vonage a temporary stay until the court can hear Vonage’s request for a permanent stay.
As a Vonage subscriber (3 lines here, 2 for business) I hope they are not forced out of business. I feel that the service is so good, that I can’t even imagine going to something else. Call quality is excellent, as are the features and price. I’m sticking with them until the last moment, and if one day I pickup the phone and there is no dialtone, so be it.
Vonage states that they do have a work-around in order to not be in violation of the patents, but that doesn’t negate the last few years of patent violation, if those accusations are indeed true. That being said, the best case scenario is that my bill will go up a few dollars.
And you know what? That’s just fine with me.
-A happy Vonage customer since 2004.