VMware has sued industrial giant AG Siemens's US operations for alleged use of unlicensed software and accused it of changing its story negotiations.
The case was filed last Friday in the US District Court for the District Delaware. VMware's complaint [PDF] alleges that Siemens AG's US operations used more VMware software that it had licensed.
Siemens's use of VMware became contentious when it tried to arrange extended support for some products.
On September 9, 2024, Siemens apparently produced a list of the VMware software it used and "demanded that VMware accept a purchase order to provide maintenance and support services for the listed products."
The complaint states that list mentioned VMware deployments that "far exceeded the number of licenses it [Siemens] had actually purchased."
VMware points out that Siemens had very good reasons to present an accurate list, because mentioning unlicensed products would expose it to legal peril and overstating the extent of its VMware usage would mean it paid more for licenses and support.
VMware claims it reviewed the list, noticed it included unlicensed software, and informed Siemens of its findings.
Siemens apparently responded by insisting the list was correct, demanded VMware accept it, and even threatened to sue the virtualization giant if it did not provide support services for the listed products.
Siemens felt it had grounds to sue because it had an option to purchase a one-year renewal of support services, believed it had exercised it, and felt VMware was not delivering.
VMware says it agreed to offer support for 30 days "under protest" and because it didn't want to disrupt Siemens's operations.
Siemens, meanwhile, appears to have revisited the list it provided in September.
In October, VMware claims Siemens "attempted to retract the list and to offer instead a new list that was closer in line with VMware's records of Siemens AG's licenses."
The complaint alleges Siemens "never provided a credible explanation of why it would have presented and insisted on the accuracy of the September 9 List, if it did not represent its actual deployment of VMware products."
VMware is also upset that Siemens would not allow a software audit and alleges "other more cooperative and forthcoming customers do [this] without objection."
Left unable to learn about the true extent of Siemens's VMware estate, and fearing use of unlicensed software, Broadcom's virtualization business unit felt it had no option but to sue.
The Register sought comment from Siemens but had not received a response at the time of publication. We will update this story if we receive a substantial reply.
VMware wants a jury trial.
One more thing: In 2023, VMware and Siemens teamed to showcase their shared vision for "The Next Era of Global Manufacturing Technology". We suspect that kind of joint presentation is less likely to happen while this case is in motion.
The lawsuit was filed just three days before VMware announced a change to the way customers download binaries of its products.
Effective April 24th, VMware will operate a single site for product downloads and customers will have to acquire a "download token" to get their hands on code. Each token is unique to the customer, enabling VMware to identify who downloads what.
Maybe that could have helped VMware understand if Siemens was staying within its license entitlements.
A VMware spokesperson told us the change will "ensure customers and channel partners can access our latest software in a secure and reliable manner."
We asked what's risky or unreliable about the current download arrangements - which use shared URLs - but have not received a response.
The change is not straightforward because some VMware products include the existing URLs for product downloads. Broadcom will offer a script to automate replacement of those URLs.
The download tokens are available in the Broadcom support portal, a service The Register's virtualization desk has often heard is not always reliable.
Another change that may be coming to VMware users is a new minimum licensing requirement that will make 72 cores the smallest allowed purchase for vSphere Standard and Enterprise Plus, the server-virtualization bundles .
Early commentary suggests small business customers see this change as a hostile action, as the processors powering their server fleets possess fewer than 72 cores. VMware's per-core licensing means they'll have to pay for software they can't use.
We've seen several posts about the 72-core minimum and have asked VMware to confirm it but are yet to receive a reply.
One thing VMware has confirmed is changes to its annual Explore conference, which in most years occupied four days during August in Las Vegas and then visited Barcelona in October or November for a conference of the same duration.
As of 2025, the Vegas event will be the only four-day confab, and new "Explore On Tour" events will run for one day, or one-and-a-half days, in London, Paris, Frankfurt, Tokyo, Sydney, and Mumbai. ®
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