So Vonage has dodged the bullet. In what has to be a very bitter pill to swallow, they've cut a deal with VoIP Inc to provide network services. VoIP Inc claims to own all of their own IP, providing Vonage with a way to step around the Verizon injunction.
It begs the question, however. How many more of these are out there lurking in the wings? IETF members have pledged to license, on reasonable and non-discriminatory terms, all IP required to implement the SIP standards, but what of non-IETF members, and non-essential IP? As the computer industry learned years ago, sometimes the best defense is a good offense. Look for someone to start consolidating VoIP IP now that the technology seems to have finally arrived.
UPDATE: I was contacted by a Vonage spokesperson this evening who stated that the VoIP Inc deal was simply a termination deal just like any other, and unrelated to the patent issue.
Alec Saunders is the Vice President of Developer Relations for BlackBerry maker Research in Motion. This is his personal blog, with his personal viewpoints. Prior to this Alec was the CEO and co-founder of Calliflower — the easiest way to hold a meeting, online, on a conference call, or on the go. A double-decade veteran of product management and marketing, he spent nine years at Microsoft where he helped launch Windows 95, the first two versions of Internet Explorer, the Universal Plug and Play initiative, the push into home markets, opt-in email marketing and what might well go down in history as the very first direct email list ever.
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