[VoIP] Verizon v. Vonage and the future of VoIP

[David Josephson]

John R. Covert wrote:
> As you may know, a jury found that Vonage infringed upon Verizon
> patents relating to connecting calls between the PSTN and the
> Internet.
>
> Already other VoIP providers are running skeered.   The company
> providing the gateway to CNET I put on a Minnesota number (218 area)
> has shut down operations:
I think Vonage may consider this a boon. According to the NY Times, the 
amount awarded was less than Vonage thought would be fair, if the 
patents were valid. The judge awarded damages for all prior 
infringements of less than 10% of Vonage's 2006 revenues and fixed 
royalties for the future at 5.5% of revenues -- shouldn't be a 
dealbreaker, and that's only if the patents hold up.

The other way this will make Vonage the winner, is that smaller VoIP 
outfits might very well not have the legal muscle that Vonage has, and 
once Vonage starts paying Verizon (if they ever do), they'll go after 
the mom n pop VoIPs.

It will be very interesting to watch.

--
David Josephson