Vonage's much-maligned IPO got attacked again with the launch of a class-action lawsuit (hat tip to Alec Saunders). The lawsuit, filed last week in the U.S. District Court for the District of New Jersey, alleges Vonage "violated federal securities laws by publishing a materially false and misleading" prospectus, and that company insiders, "desperate to executive an exit strategy for themselves, embarked on an illegal course of conduct to sell shares of the company in a public market". Since Vonage shares started trading two ago, they have tumbled nearly 30% to $11.98 from $17 - and you wonder why shareholders are so pissed off. Then again, if they had read the prospectus, they would have known Vonage's prospectus are, at best, uncertain as spends like a banchi on marketing to play in an ultra-competitive market with no barriers to entry.

Last Monday in Toronto, there was a wildcat strike that shut down the public transporation system for most of the day. Needless to say, traffic was terrible, and as I slowly nudged my way to the office in quasi-suburbia, it struck me as odd that with powerful PCs, high-speed Internet access, VoIP, Web-based tools, etc. at our fingertips that telecommuting isn't more widespread. For whatever reason, companies like to see their employees despite the fact telecommuting could make their employees more productive and reduce operating expenses. One of the leaders in telecommuting has been Hewlett-Packard, which has encouraged home offices and flexible work hours. The company, however, has reversed course with a decision to make about 1,000 employees work at one of 25 designated offices for most of the week instead of from home. According to the San Jose Mercury News, the decision is the brain-child of CIO Randy Mott, who joined HP last July after stints at Wal-Mart and Dell. For a list o why telecommuting is so good, the American Telecommuting Assocation has a lengthy list.