It's a bad week to be Vonage. A federal court has ruled that all VoIP providers must start collecting and paying into the Universal Service Fund (USF), adding about $1.30 a month to the average bill. Vonage had sued the FCC to protest not only having to pay but having to pay so much compared to wireline and wireless providers.
To top it all off, South Korean telcos have blocked all access to VoIP services not provided by a company registered in South Korea. This would be such a big deal except that US servicemen stationed in Korea use Vonage lines with US numbers to call home without paying through the nose. The shutoff occurred on June 1 after a one-year delay in enforcement.
(See full articles here and here.)
It seems as though certain governments are using some very hardball tactics to protect their incumbent phone companies. These regulations I don't think will slow adoption of VoIP service or the continued use by the customers.
Private companies are often just as complicit. Look at how Verizon is trying to more-or-less claim ownership of basic Internet technologies in an attempt to shut down Vonage. Of course they wouldn't go after, say, Comcast or AT&T first. It's much easier to win a case against a smaller competitor and then try blackmailing royalties out of everyone else.