[US] Vonage Newspaper Ads

It appears that consumer VoIP company Vonage had decided to take its battle out of the courtroom and into the streets and the arena of public opinion with a new series of newspaper advertisements.

The newspaper ads are running in many major broadsheets across the US all referring to a new website put up by Vonage to explain their view of the implications of their case. The site, called FreeToCompete.com explains their side of things very clearly while also providing a venue for users to sign an online petition against Verizon and to view user-submitted videos talking about their support of the internet phone company.

While their recent success by winning a permanent stay of the injunction while their appeal is still being heard has kept Vonage alive and away from bankruptcy for now, it's pretty much a temporary thing until a final decision is made. The decision to stay the injunction included a stringent deadline for a court decision on the matter - requiring that the hearings resume on June 25 of this year. If they are banned from signing up new customers before they can determine an alternative workaround outside of the Verizon patents, the company is as good as gone.

It's an interesting approach, you have to admit, but I'm skeptical to see how far this will go in terms of furthering their court case. Vonage has been known to be somewhat extravagant in terms of its marketing and advertising budgets and this just might be another waste of money for them in their continuing efforts to stay afloat.