Broadcom Sends Cease-and-Desist Letters to VMware Perpetual License Holders

Broadcom has been sending cease-and-desist letters to owners of VMware perpetual licenses with expired enactment contracts, Ars Technica has confirmed.

Following its November 2023 acquisition of VMware, Broadcom ended VMware perpetual licence sales. Users with perpetual licenses tin inactive usage the bundle they bought, but they are incapable to renew enactment services unless they had a preexisting declaration enabling them to bash so. The arguable determination aims to propulsion VMware users to bargain subscriptions to VMware merchandise bundles, with associated costs that person accrued by 300 percent or, successful immoderate cases, more.

Some customers person opted to proceed utilizing VMware unsupported, often arsenic they probe alternatives, specified arsenic VMware rivals oregon devirtualization.

Over the past weeks, immoderate users moving VMware unsupported person reported receiving cease-and-desist letters from Broadcom informing them that their declaration with VMware and, thus, their close to person enactment services, has expired. The letter, reviewed by Ars Technica and signed by Broadcom managing manager Michael Brown, tells users they are to halt utilizing immoderate attraction releases/updates, insignificant releases, large releases/upgrades extensions, enhancements, patches, bug fixes, oregon information patches, prevention for zero-day information patches, issued since their enactment declaration ended.

The missive tells users that the implementation of immoderate specified updates “past the Expiration Date indispensable beryllium instantly removed/deinstalled," adding: “Any specified usage of Support past the Expiration Date constitutes a worldly breach of the Agreement with VMware and an infringement of VMware’s intelligence spot rights, perchance resulting successful claims for enhanced damages and attorneys’ fees.”

Some customers of Members IT Group, a managed services supplier successful Canada, person received this letter, contempt not receiving VMware updates since their enactment contracts expired, CTO Dean Colpitts told Ars. One customer, helium said, received a missive six days aft their enactment declaration expired.

Similarly, users online person reported receiving cease-and-desist letters adjacent though they haven't issued updates since losing VMware support. One idiosyncratic connected Spiceworks’ assemblage forum reported receiving specified a missive adjacent though they migrated disconnected of VMware and to Proxmox.

Some users who reported receiving a missive from Broadcom said they ended up getting ineligible teams involved. Ars has besides seen disorder online, with immoderate radical reasoning that the missive means Broadcom perceives that they've breached their statement with VMware. However, it seems that Broadcom is sending these letters to companies soon aft their enactment contracts person expired, careless of whether they proceed to usage (or not use) VMware.

Broadcom didn't respond to a petition for comment.

Broadcom Warns of Potential Audits

The cease-and-desist letters besides archer recipients that they could beryllium taxable to auditing: “Failure to comply with [post-expiration reporting] requirements whitethorn effect successful a breach of the Agreement by Customer[,] and VMware whitethorn workout its close to audit Customer arsenic good arsenic immoderate different disposable contractual oregon ineligible remedy.”

In response, Colpitts told Ars:

"The 1 happening that does benignant of piss maine disconnected is the information that Broadcom retains the close to inactive execute audits whenever they choose. But ... that's utter BS anyways. If a lawsuit wanted to fell stuff, it could easy beryllium done (disclaimer: I person ne'er done this, but since it's each self-reporting successful wide substance with nary information checksums oregon thing to observe tampering, it would beryllium casual to do)."

Since Broadcom ended VMware's perpetual licenses and accrued pricing, galore users and transmission partners, particularly small- to medium-size companies, person had to trim oregon extremity concern with VMware. Most of Members IT Group’s VMware lawsuit basal is present moving VMware unsupported. The managed services provider's biggest interest determination is ensuring that unit don't accidentally use patches to customers, Colpitts noted.

In caller months, Broadcom has sought to rein successful imaginable usage of VMware products that it considers unwarranted. For example, it engaged successful a since-resolved ineligible conflict with AT&T implicit the telecom’s close to renew enactment services and has accused Siemens of pirating VMware software.

Broadcom’s changes to however VMware is distributed person resulted successful assorted firms ditching VMware and doubting Broadcom's attraction for customers. While Broadcom’s fiscal occurrence since acquiring VMware suggests that its concern program volition stay steadfast, sending cease-and-desist letters to VMware users risks further harming its estimation with existent and erstwhile customers.

This communicative primitively appeared on Ars Technica.