A European cloud trade group just won a small fight that could decide whether its bigger one survives. The EU General Court has ruled that CISPE can keep the names of the members backing its challenge to Broadcom’s VMware takeover hidden from Broadcom. The ruling is procedural, a CISPE spokesperson told The Register, but it clears the immediate obstacle.
Broadcom had asked to see the redacted names, arguing it needed them to contest whether the case should be admitted. CISPE answered that exposure would invite retaliation. Those members have used VMware, and some still do, and they had shared details about their commercial dealings with it. Given how much power Broadcom holds over their software supply, the group argued that anonymity protects them.
Behind the procedure sits the main claim. CISPE wants the court to annul the European Commission’s unconditional approval of the deal, saying regulators never properly weighed the effect on European cloud providers and VMware’s reseller channel. The Commission did attach conditions about interoperability with rival hardware, but CISPE says those missed the real risk. According to CISPE, it warned regulators that Broadcom would use VMware’s grip on private cloud to rewrite its licensing terms.
The group says that is what happened. Partners learned within a month of the November 2023 closing that VMware’s channel program would end in early 2024, and Broadcom kept only a handful of the biggest providers. CISPE reports that fewer than 20 European providers remain authorized, down from over a thousand. Excluded firms have until 31 March 2027 to sell their infrastructure or customers to a buyer Broadcom picks, or to shut down. AT&T claims Broadcom proposed a price rise of 1,050 percent, and a recent survey found nine in ten VMware customers considering alternatives.
CISPE is candid about the odds, calling the case a long shot while pointing to precedent. A court ruled in 2006 that the Commission’s 2004 clearance of the Sony and BMG music merger fell short of the legal standard, and officials then reassessed it and cleared it again. CISPE has also filed a separate competition complaint with the Commission’s competition directorate.
Its stated goal is modest, and that makes sense. The group wants Broadcom at the negotiating table. Broadcom didn’t comment in the report, and the Commission declined to discuss procedure.
