Madison River Communications, a North Carolina telecom service provider, has been assessed a $15,000 fine by the FCC.  The company, which operates four RLECs in the Southeast and Midwest US, was engaged in "port blocking" all VoIP traffic on its networks.  Madison River was trying to impede certain types of traffic, including VoIP packets, and Vonage took notice, filing a complaint with the FCC.  Departing Chairman Michael Powell, issued the hefty fine, to be paid to the government, and issued a decree preventing Madison River from engaging in this practice for 30 months.  Apparently, Vonage is not the only VoIP carrier affected by port blocking: even smaller players such as Nuvio (a small VoIP SP from Kansas City) had its VoIP traffic blocked by a cable operator.