VMware sues Siemens for allegedly using unlicensed software
The lawsuit comes amidst rumours that VMware is set to implement a new 72-core minimum vSphere licence requirement.
Published on 27th March 2025
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 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 virtualisation 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 virtualisation business unit felt it had no option but to sue.
Download and license changes
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.
In other vNews
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-virtualisation 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.
Despite several posts about the 72-core minimum, VMware have yet to officially confirm this.
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Titiwoot Weerawong via Vecteezy
