Voice over Internet Protocol, or VoIP, is the subject matter of a patent dispute in the US between Verizon and Vonage. According to a June 19 report by Marguerite Reardon on http://news.com.com, Verizon says that Vonage infringed on patents held by Verizon that describe technology for the following: completing phone calls between VoIP users and people using phones on the traditional public switched network, authenticating VoIP callers, validating VoIP callers` accounts, fraud protection, providing enhanced features, using Wi-Fi handsets with VoIP services and monitoring VoIP caller usage. "Vonage`s service uses software that turns voice signals into packets and then transmits them over broadband connections, essentially turning any Internet connection into a telephone line. Verizon sells a similar service, called VoiceWing," explains Reardon. Verizon was the respondent in a different VoIP case that came up recently before the US Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit: American Council on Education (ACE) vs Federal Communications Commission (FCC). At the core of the case was a ruling by the FCC that providers of broadband Internet access and VoIP services can be regulated as `telecommunications carriers` under the Communications Assistance for Law Enforcement Act (CALEA). Meaning, "broadband and VoIP providers must ensure that law-enforcement officers are able to intercept communications transmitted over the providers` networks." ACE said that the Commission`s interpretation was unlawful because the provisions of law applied to `telecommunications carriers`, and not `information services`. The decision, though, went against ACE. The verdict of Circuit Judge Sentelle dated June 9 begins on a historical note: "Before the dawn of the digital era, there were few technological obstacles to the government`s wiretapping capabilities: Eavesdropping on a phone call was as easy as finding the copper wires that ran into every caller`s home."