A Texas-Sized VoIP Lawsuit

When Texas Attorney General Greg Abbott slapped Vonage with a lawsuit Tuesday he irresponsibly dropped a Texan � no, Alaskan-sized cowpie on the VoIP industry, especially since his own, autographed article on the Texas Attorney General�s Web page stresses that customers themselves need to take the responsibility for finding out about and signing up for 911 from VoIP providers.

According to a story posted March 15^th on the Web site of ABC13, Houston�s ABC affiliate station, �Joyce John was upstairs at home after school one day [February 2] when suddenly she heard gunshots and her parents screaming. Her mother, faced with two armed robbers, yelled for the 17-year-old to dial 911.

�When she did, the teenager heard this message: �Stop. You must dial 911 from another telephone. 911 is not available from this telephone line. No emergency personnel will be dispatched.��

Ms. John had tried to use the family Vonage VoIP line on which Vonage offers emergency 911 service, but according to The Washington Post her parents, Vonage subscribers Peter and Sosamma John, who were shot and who thankfully survived their injuries, did not request 911 services for the line.

John claims he �had no idea� he had to sign up for 911, although a user�s guide included with his phone told him he did and Vonage sends regular Web page and e-mail reminders to people who have not signed up for 911 to please do so.

Nevertheless Abbott has filed a lawsuit under the Texas Deceptive Trade Practices Act against Vonage Holdings Corp., saying the company fails to clearly tell consumers about the limits of 911 emergency calling over its service. The suit asks a state court to order Vonage to stop saying it offers �911 calling,� and change its marketing to highlight the steps a customer needs to take for emergency service. The state also asked for Vonage to pay $20,000 per violation, but did not list the number of alleged violations.

Vonage notifies customers twice during the subscription process that they must register for 911 service, and subscribers are repeatedly notified that they must request emergency service whenever they log into their account, said Vonage spokeswoman Brooke Schulz. According to Houston businessman and Vonage customer Thomas Junker, �[Abbott]�s claim that Vonage fails to inform its customers about the differences between regular 911 and Vonage�s 911 is utterly false.  I found that Vonage explained it very well and very clearly, and that Vonage annoys users who have not activated the 911 workaround, with Web page and e-mail reminders.�

The Johns freely chose to subscribe to Vonage, and Vonage made it clear it was their responsibility to activate 911. �We�re not clear what the issues are with the disclosures,� Schulz said. �We�re at a loss as to what they want us to change, but we�re open to any changes they want.�

Activating the service does require a minimal investment of time, thought and effort, and many subscribers simply can�t be bothered, they�re too busy counting all the money they�ll save on long-distance phone calls. But when an emergency occurs and they don�t have the 911 the service they chose not to activate, why should it be their fault? This is America, it�s always someone else�s fault, heaven forbid anyone accept responsibility for their own decisions or actions.

Abbott, of course, is only acting as politicians do, blaming him for cheap, irresponsible yet highly publicized grandstanding is like blaming a vulture for circling a thirsty child in the desert. Politicians lust after publicity, and right now Abbott�s got a Stetsonful of it.

After all Abbott�s got an election coming up, he needs Texas voters to think he�s Fighting For Texasm 24/7, this is an emotional issue, why not milk it for all it�s worth? Faceless corporations who don�t donate as much to politicians as the industries they�re rapidly rendering obsolete make great punching bags.

You�ll need an airsickness bag for this next quote: �This family�s moment of crisis signals a dire need for Vonage to clearly communicate to its Internet telephone customers that 911 access may not be available to them,� Abbott intoned piously. �This is not just about bad customer service; it�s a matter of life and death.�

This from a man whose own signed page posted February 9^th � almost a full week after the John shooting � on the Texas Attorney General Web site warns customers that �if the [VoIP] provider makes it voluntary or mandatory to sign up for 9-1-1 service, you may be required to go on line and enter your name and address so you can be located in an emergency. It will be very important for you to enter the information accurately and keep it up to date.� But hey, if you don�t feel like going to all that trouble don�t worry, we�ll just sue the provider.

Over half of Vonage�s 500,000 customers have responsibly chosen to activate 911. Abbott�s lawsuit comes dangerously close to suggesting that Texans need things perfectly clear to others to be written in large red crayon.

Abbott�s office never contacted Vonage to try to solve the �problem� before rushing to file a high-publicity lawsuit. Why not? �It�s a significant consumer-protection lawsuit. This is the first in the nation for an attorney general,� says his spokeswoman Angela Hale. Makes a great campaign slogan � �First In The Nation In Caring About Texans.�

Abbott says he wants Vonage to include a checkoff requirement to ensure people are aware of the lack of traditional 911 service. One wonders why he didn�t simply send a letter to Vonage requesting that � oh, right, no TV cameras or headlines that way.