IT Professionals

Viva La Vonage!

Posted by on Apr 26, 2007 | 4 Comments

Well, I certainly think that this may be Vonage’s last cry for help. Even if I had some hard feelings, I never wish to see the men and women working there, the customers or anyone else who has enjoyed their services suffer from the potential of Vonage being thrust into bankruptcy.

Vonage has some fairly strong arguments, unfortunately the fact remains that Verizon will win. Why? Because they can outlast Vonage in the court system with ease, it’s simply a matter of money. In many ways, this whole issue of competition is a long time coming. And to be clear, Vonage should have realized this earlier on. It’s sad, unfortunate situation that is going to effect a lot of VoIP customers. Even worse, is that this entire situation could be merely a dress rehearsal for for what is to come for other VoIP providers, patent violations or not. While I have always believed in the free market, using it like a club to beat down the competition is just one more reason why I will never support companies that choose these kind of business practices.

[tags]free trade, vonage, verizon, telephone, VOIP[/tags]

  • B28

    Go here for an updated list of price comparaison per country of most VOIP providers http://backsla.sh/betamax

  • Steve Osborne

    There is not and cannot be a “free market” as long as constraints such as patents, copyrights, trademarks, and trade secrets exist. I have lived and worked in societies where those constraints did not exist in practice, although they may have been part of the legal system. Those societies are as innovative and dynamic as the European model we follow, but progress is a bit slower and occurs in smaller steps.

    We must return to the original intent of patents and copyrights existing for brief periods of time — barely enough time to recover costs — or we have to give up any dreams of free markets. Without free markets, our society will eventually strangle itself in courts and innovation will cease. We can hope some parts of humanity will continue to ignore the constraints of patents and copyrights.

  • http://www.collins.net.pr/blog Dean Collins

    Sorry Matt, you are wrong.

    Prior Art will save Vonage and Verizon’s patents will be invalidated. They are too broad (let that be a lesson to greedy patent holders who try to cover too much turf).

    Cheers,
    Dean
    http://www.collins.net.pr/blog

  • Sid Gilbert

    Patents and copyrights can be misused, however they are in place to protect the intellectual efforts of individuals and companies, thus making innovation profitable. If Verizon did indeed patent technology that is being used without permission by Vonage, then Vonage should be forced to cease and desist and pay restitution to Verizon. Whether we like Verizon or not, whether we must respect their right to protect the fruits of their labor as much as we protect our own. The problem is the act of patenting something that is in common use already. As Dean Collins stated, prior art is the only hope for Vonage, and apparently there is none. Don’t think that Vonage can’t afford to fight Verizon in court. If the estimates of over two million Vonage customers is accurate, each paying over $20 a month, I would put Vonage in the “big boy” category , also. At that point it becoms Goliath vs. Goliath, and the courts can decide.