Vonage Asks: 'Can You Patent an Orange?'

Fresh off its victory in gaining a permanent injunction, Vonage is now taking its battle to the people, launching Free to Compete, a Web site aimed at putting pressure on Verizon to lay off the VoIP company.

Vonage says that Verizon is attempting to stamp out competition by suing them out of the marketplace. In addition to the website, it will also place full-page ads in papers around the country as well as through radio and television.

The Web site gives customers and interested parties information on the court cases, as well as links to public court documents, a petition to protect the consumer's right to choose phone providers, and an e-mail link to complain to Verizon.

Some of the letters would even be posted to the site, along with videos sent in by the company's customers.

"We think this issue warrants national attention because when competition is stifled, consumers literally pay the price," chairman and interim CEO Jeffrey Citron said. "Vonage is the target today, but what other innovative companies might be next?"

The company says it has saved consumers millions of dollars and has caused long distance rates to fall. Verizon has only about 15,000 VoIP providers, Vonage 2.4 million.

Some of the customer e-mails are quite direct: "Just to let you know that we love your service and will support you fully in your battle with Verizon. It also helps that we hate Verizon," a letter from Vonage customer Leonard Goldman.

The company analogizes the battle in an interesting way. "If you own a patent on an orange, does that mean you own a patent on the orange tree too?" a flash animation asks. "What about the ground where the tree grows, or the truck that takes the orange to the market?"

Verizon was not immediately available for comment on Vonage's latest push to make its case.

Some aren't buying the VoIP providers tactics, questioning if it would really make any difference. "Just imagine, an army of thousands of Vonage customers, circling the court while chanting 'woo-hoo, woo-woo-hoo!'," GigaOm's Paul Kapustka said. "That should do the trick."