SIPphone Sues Vonage for Misleading Consumers on VOIP Costs
San Diego - September 30, 2004 -
SAN DIEGO, CA - SIPphone, Inc. (www.sipphone.com) announced they have filed a lawsuit against Vonage Holdings Corp on behalf of customers falling victim to deception around their VOIP phone service. The complaint filed in San Diego Superior Court accuses Vonage of unfair competition as well as false advertising. A copy is available at www.sipphone.com/legal. Examples of misleading advertisements and packaging are cited in the lawsuit which allege Vonage is competing unfairly by not disclosing required monthly payments to use Internet calling equipment which they are selling. SIPphone, Inc. also alleges that customers are not being told that the calling equipment is crippled for use only with VonageÕs VOIP service - an unusual practice in the industry.
"Vonage is crowding out legitimate companies with deceptive advertisements for low cost crippled Internet calling devices while keeping secret that they will function only if hundreds of dollars of fees per year are paid," says SIPphone CEO and Founder, Michael Robertson. "We want Vonage to be honest with consumers and disclose that they are paying manufacturers to intentionally disable phone adapters so buyers are forced to pay a monthly fee to Vonage."
While Vonage requires monthly fees many Internet calling services do not. SIPphone is one which does not have a monthly fee yet provides unlimited Internet calling, voicemail, and conferencing. In addition, SIPphone works with a wide range of device manufacturers which sell affordable devices which can be used with any Internet phone service the consumer chooses. See: http://www.siphardware.com SIPphone is commited to promoting the open SIP standard and consumer choice.
"Customers will save billions if we move to a world where they can choose their phone company and know at all times what their costs will be so they can make informed choices," continued Mr. Robertson. "Vonage is attempting to block competition by intentionally crippling devices to lock-in customers. Consumers buy these devices only to get home and discover it is locked to the Vonage service for which they will have to pay hundreds of dollars per year." says SIPphone CEO, Michael Robertson.
SIPphone plans to ask the court to issue an injunction to halt Vonage's misleading ads and suggests the following prescribed remedies:
- Vonage and its retail partners must clearly indicate hardware is locked and cannot be used with any other SIP-based service today or in the future.
- Vonage and its retail partners must clearly communicate on all ads, online and print catalog listings and packaging the minimum required monthly fee necessary to make the hardware functional
- Vonage and its retail partners must drop misleading statements such as "no monthly contracts"
- Vonage and its retail partners must offer all existing customers of their Internet Phone adapter sold with the deceptive ads and listings a full refund or a replacement with an unlocked version of the adapter.
