Vonage Crushed Again

Updated from 9:37 a.m.

Vonage (VG Quote) sank 10% early Monday to a new low after a judge issued a ruling barring it from taking on new customers.

Friday's setback for the Internet phone company was followed by another decision that temporarily stayed the order. The decisions come in a patent case with Verizon (VZ Quote) that resulted last month in an infringement finding against Vonage.

Vonage said it will continue to provide digital telephone service to existing customers indefinitely by paying into escrow a quarterly royalty of 5.5% throughout the appeals process. The court required Vonage to post a bond of $66 million to secure Verizon's damages judgment.

A Vonage lawyer decried Friday's order cutting off customer additions, saying it wasn't much different than shutting the service down altogether.

"It's the difference of cutting off oxygen as opposed to the bullet in the head," lawyer Roger Warin said, the Associated Press reported.

Shares fell 36 cents Monday to $3.01 after earlier hitting a new low of $2.88.