Court's call: Hands off VoIP | CNET News.com

Court's call: Hands off VoIP | CNET News.com "In ruling from the bench late Tuesday, Minneapolis federal Judge Michael J. Davis permanently barred Minnesota from applying traditional telephone rules to Vonage, a pioneer in technology that lets consumers bypass the traditional phone network by making voice calls over a broadband connection. A written order explaining the court's rationale is expected by Friday, according to the Minneapolis court clerk's office.
Tuesday's ruling for now frees Vonage to sell its Internet phone service in Minnesota without obtaining a telephone operator's license or paying fees to support 911 services. More importantly, the order is the first to address the authority of a state to oversee so-called Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) providers, and could thus impact efforts by other states to regulate VoIP providers."