Vonage shut out from Verizon networks?
updated 02:30 pm EDT, Fri March 23, 2007
Vonage Blocked by Verizon
A US federal judge today issued an injunction against Vonage, asking the voice-over-IP provider to immediately stop infringing on patents held by the phone company Verizon. The ruling follows a $58 million award to Verizon earlier in the month granted after a jury found that Vonage had caused harm to the carrier's phone business in three separate instances.
An upheld decision could potentially prove crippling for the Internet-based phone service by blocking the company's V-Phones (pictured) and routers from working on Verizon's networks, which cover a large portion of the country. The judge rejected Vonage's claim that siding with Verizon would hurt the public interest.
