Broadcom is suing Siemens for allegedly using thousands of unlicensed VMware products

The big picture: Following its acquisition by Broadcom, VMware has become a focal point of controversy in the tech industry. Now, the virtualization company is hitting back by taking Siemens to court over an alleged massive software license infringement. Broadcom has filed a lawsuit against the US arm of Siemens AG, accusing the German conglomerate of using "thousands" of VMware products without proper licenses. According to the lawsuit, the two companies had an agreement for a specific number of licenses, but Siemens allegedly overstepped those terms while still demanding full VMware support for its virtualization-based operations. Siemens AG and its affiliates "downloaded, copied, distributed, and activated a large number of VMware software in excess of the number of licenses they had purchased," Broadcom claimed. VMware and Siemens originally signed a software license and service agreement in 2012, long before Broadcom acquired the virtualization company. The lawsuit further stat ... Read full article.