VMware and Siemens are going to fight out a dispute over licenses in court. According to VMware, Siemens used more of its products than it paid for.
VMware has filed an official complaint against Siemens. The lawsuit between VMware and Siemens concerns alleged copyright infringements by the latter. The American branch of the company allegedly used VMware products without paying for a license.
VMware discovered the alleged license breaches due to Siemens’ own actions. In September, Siemens submitted a list of products for which it demanded extended support. According to VMware, that list included products for which no license had ever been purchased. VMware claims in the complaint that Siemens refused to provide additional information about the use of its software products.
As a ‘gesture’ towards the customer and out of fear of lawsuits if operational activities were disrupted, VMware agreed to the request to extend support. Now VMware wants to seek redress in court. It demands compensation for the unlicensed use of software by Siemens. Both companies are currently unwilling to comment on the lawsuit.
Squabbling over Licenses
Since Broadcom took a heavy-handed approach to the VMware portfolio after the acquisition, it has been at odds with multiple customers over licenses. Many VMware products are no longer available through a one-time license. Broadcom prefers to push customers towards subscription models, even though these are much more expensive for ‘smaller’ customers.
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The supplier announced new conditions for downloading VMware binaries at the beginning of this week. Customers must first request a ‘token’ to obtain the code. According to VMware, the token is an assurance that the code they download is safe and reliable. As an additional benefit, it gives VMware more insight into who downloads what, so that misunderstandings like the one with Siemens won’t happen again in the future.
In addition, VMware continues to emphasize its preferential treatment for large companies. For instance, it would now require a minimum purchase of 72 cores for vSphere Standard and Enterprise Plus bundles, according to The Register. This excludes organizations with less server capacity. VMware has not formally confirmed this change.