Of course, the real shame in all of this is that Vonage’s service is a winner for the consumer, it is feature rich, has become highly reliable, and is a great value.

Seems to me Vonage’s challenge is to survive the attack of this absurd patent fiasco, sit back up, and hopefully be able to attract fresh capital to resume their business on its merits.

I remember when I first signed up for a VoIP plan in late 2006. A few days later, purely by coincidence, my local cable company’s sales rep knocked on my door, selling internet phone service. He started into his pitch and I informed him that I already had internet telephone service, thank you, and it was far cheaper than the cable company’s. He asked how much, because he hadn’t even gotten to the price portion of his pitch when I cut him off. You should have seen the poor man’s face fall when I told him I was paying $26 per month for unlimited calls.

Actually, though, cutting him off with that fact had been an act of mercy. I knew for a fact that the lowest price my cable company offered for phone service was $48 per month, and that only if bundled with cable and internet service. And then I’d have had to watch his face fall even further when I informed him that such a bundle was useless to me. I haven’t had a television for more than five years.

That’s a good thing… even if all is not well.