Vonage Hit With $69.5M Judgement 234
andy1307 writes "The Washington Post is reporting that Net telephone company Vonage Holdings Corp. was ordered in federal court Tuesday to pay Sprint Nextel $69.5 million in damages for infringing on six telecommunications patents owned by competitor Sprint Nextel Corp. In addition to the damages, jurors awarded Sprint Nextel a 5 percent royalty from Vonage on future revenues. It was the second verdict against Vonage this year. A jury in Virginia determined in March that Vonage had violated three Verizon patents in building its Internet phone system. The jury awarded Verizon $58 million in damages plus 5.5 percent royalties on future revenues. Greg Gorbatenko, a telecommunications and media analyst for Jackson Securities, said the decision 'feels like a death knell' for Vonage because future revenue will likely dry up, preventing the company from investing in better technology or improving customer service."
And so, the incumbent telcos smugly feel... (Score:5, Interesting)
But there will come a day when we will kick their corporate corpses and spit on them.
Investing in better technology? (Score:5, Interesting)
A perfect example of patents destroying innovation (Score:5, Interesting)
Here we have Vonage, offering a novel and efficient solution to global communication. They're opening up new possibilities. Yet the incumbents dare not face true competition, so they quash this innovative burst of talent. And what do we get? Less innovation, and less economic efficiency.
Re:And so, the incumbent telcos smugly feel... (Score:5, Interesting)
The only day that we will kick their corporate corpses is if we get rid of stupid patents and actually enforce anti-trust regulations (note to the FCC: cable and satellite providers are no more competitors to ATT than pencils and markers are competitors to Bic). And I don't see that coming anytime soon.
Absurd (Score:5, Interesting)
In 1985 I worked out everything that was required to do this and in fact even went so far as to track down Dialog cards so I could interface a PC to a T1 line.
There is NOTHING required that is worthy of a patent. NOTHING at all. This is all a totally obvious idea and relatively easy to implement. In fact it is so obvious that when I started working on the project I never even considered that patents would be available.
I never finished that project. I was a single parent working at home and my kids at the time decided I should not be allowed to program. Alas.
Now of course we have projects like Asterisk and its quite mature.
So how does this ruling affect projects like Asterisk? (www.asterisk.org)
Are we banned from plugging a hand held device that contains both a speaker and a microphone into a computer now? Or are we banned from connecting the computer to the telco switch, which BTW is a computer.
Maybe we are banned from connecting a computer which is called a PC to a computer which is called a switch via a network which has been in common use for decades.
To the fellow who points out that people who are too dumb to get out of jury duty are put in charge of million dollar technical decisions which they cannot possibly understand.... yes. You are 100% correct and you make an excellent post.
Its clear that lawyers have managed to turn technical progress into a game of craps. IMHO this is something the public needs to be more aware of and somehow it would be nice if our pollies could be held accountable for the bad legislation they created. We really need to get patent business out of the computer business.
Re:Thats too bad. (Score:5, Interesting)
A quick check showed plans from AT&T, and MCI, were avaible."
Sure they do, but at more than double the price I pay Vonage.
Re:Investing in better technology? (Score:4, Interesting)
That's the point. If they offer the identical service as my old phone company for $20/month less (ie. free long distance), then it's totally worth it.
Is Vonage cutting edge? No.
Are they innovating? No.
Can they save everybody at least $20/month on their phone bill? Yes.
Who do you think you are??? (Score:5, Interesting)
said the decision 'feels like a death knell' for Vonage because future revenue will likely dry up, preventing the company from investing in better technology or improving customer service."
Sharon, you must think we're a bunch of chumps. We didn't get to be big phone companies by being nice, you know. Better service and lower prices? Did you really think we'd let you get away with that little stunt?
Why do you think we pushed patents in the first place? Monopolies have always been about better profits, and never about better customer service or value. Quite charming that someone out there actually believes in such antiquated notions, really.
I believe, Sharon, you are just beginning to understand how a phone company is supposed to work. Better customer service? Hah! We're here to make a profit, and while your little charade was entertaining, it's high time you got on with being serious about being a phone company.
I mean, honestly, when was the last time one of your customers was on hold for more than a half hour before finally giving up? And you call yourselves a phone company...
Better technology? Are you serious? Why, that costs money, you know. Did you really believe our lawyers would let you get away with that?
After all, just who do you think we are?
Re:Damn... (Score:2, Interesting)
Forgive me for posting as AC for obvious reasons.
Because the jury selection process is corrupted. (Score:4, Interesting)
Because the jury selection process has been corrupted to the point that anyone with any background in the subject in question, or an engineering background in general, will be deliberately excluded from the selection.
If I understand it correctly, this apparently started out to avoid having jury members bring into their deliberations any personal knowledge of information that is not in evidence (and thus was not subject to challenge by the litigating parties). But the net effect is to exclude exactly those people with the educational toolkit to make informed judgements on technical issues, rather than being led around by the rhetorical skills of the attorneys.
People with technical backgrounds are, in fact, excluded from most trials. The ability to reason logically is seen as a liability by both prosecuting and defending attorneys.
One result is that the panels finally selected are far from a statistical sample of the population - with a statistical bias that subverts the intent of the jury system - and thus justice - to an extreme degree.
The other result is that going through jury selection is, for most technical people (along with anybody with a strong political position, knowledge of guns or crime, etc.), a massive waste of time. They will almost never be selected.
= = = =
By the way: You won't find the phrase "jury of his peers" in the US legal system. This is because we're all supposed to be peers before the law. Thus you have no case if you, as an engineer, object to being tried by a jury that systematically excludes engineers and consists exclusively of people who are retired or on welfare.
Vonage was just more corporate evil. (Score:4, Interesting)
This is ass stupid behavior from a company. I had been a loyal customer who frequently told people how good their service was. Now I tell them how much Vonage sucks and to beware their dishonest business practicies. Brilliant move. Giving me a $100 credit for service I didn't use would have got my business back for years to come.
Re:A perfect example of patents destroying innovat (Score:5, Interesting)
Re:Damn... (Score:4, Interesting)
On the other hand, realistically, how could eight randomly chosen citizens with no experience in the telecommunications field possibly come to an educated decision? Isn't a trial of this nature really just going to come down to which lawyer has the most winning personality (or the best ability to "dumb it down" in a way a layperson can understand?)
I understand we as individuals are entitled to be tried by a jury of our peers, but when one multinational corporation is suing another are eight Kansas City residents really "peers?"
And no, I don't have a better alternative to suggest, but something is clearly broken here.
Re:Because the jury selection process is corrupted (Score:5, Interesting)
After the trial, speaking with the defense and prosecutors, they both said they nearly excluded me, but both took a chance. They outright told me that they are afraid of people in technical, specifically IT related technical fields, serving on juries. They didn't really elaborate much but it was the general rule, not one just for this case.
I did convey to them that I believed that was wrong thinking on thier parts.
Informed opinion or gut reaction? (Score:2, Interesting)
Well isn't their implementation SIP?! (Score:3, Interesting)
Damn. And I was just getting to like my Vonage (Score:3, Interesting)
Heck, getting a naked DSL connection from the local telco provider in my region (Canada) means I also get hit with a $10 charge, (penalty) because I'm not also subscribing to their phone service. What kind of company bills you for NOT using their service? It's damned criminal, but there's precious little which can be done about it. I liked it waaaay back when Bell was a government controlled monopoly. When they pulled greedy tactics, the public was quick to slam them down. It was rare for me to ever see a phone bill over $25 a month back then.
Then the whole show was deregulated and competition opened up and everybody cheered because they were ignorant. (People! Oh lordy, but they can be sooooo dumb!) I was one of the only people yelling, "Don't you see? It's a trap!" --Before I finally switched to VOIP, $100 phone bills were not uncommon. And that didn't include ISP charges.
I love socialism. Competition is a great idea, but it doesn't work at the huge corporate level, because the big players are too few in number, they can cleverly jack up prices and nobody can sick the government on them to control their rampant greed.
If people were less easily fast-talked by corporate America, if our governing bodies actually served the people who pay for it, then this could be a really beautiful world.
The problem isn't just greed, it's ignorance.
Knowledge protects.
-FL
Corporate Communism (Score:0, Interesting)
Re:Damn. And I was just getting to like my Vonage (Score:1, Interesting)