Has virtually the entire U.S. converted over to 911? Seems to me it wasn't that long ago that outlying suburban and rural areas retained traditional telephone numbers although a conversion process was going on. Further, has the whole country gone to "enhanced" 911, not just a central dispatcher?
I'm not sure I agree about the "limitations being well documented". I think many consumers simply saw an ad for deeply discounted telephone service (VOIP) and went out and bought it. They didn't realize that the service did not includes some basics people have taken for granted for years. The companies, being unregulated, had no mandate to clearly advertise this limitation.
Please remember that individual ordinary consumers do not read technical magazines or newsgroups. I hate it when the technocrats get all hissy when consumers get burned because they're not up on the latest marketing scams.
So maybe VOIP isn't such a great deal that it was made out to be.
Why isn't Judge Greene (or his successors) on top of these things?