However with a virtual appliance, the installed media is no longer within your control. This has been addressed by Microsoft and other vendors.

Unfortunately, some vendors may ignore licensing issues when they send out virtual appliances to customers. This could put both parties in jeopardy. This makes you think: if they violate licensing what else are they violating and is this the way to start a trusting relationship with the vendor?

Licensing responsibility is yours.

Virtualization expert Edward L. Haletky is the author of "VMWare ESX Server in the Enterprise: Planning and Securing Virtualization Servers," Pearson Education (2008.) He recently left Hewlett-Packard, where he worked in the Virtualization, Linux, and High-Performance Technical Computing teams. Haletky owns AstroArch Consulting, providing virtualization, security, and network consulting and development. Haletky is also a champion and moderator for the VMware discussion forums, providing answers to security and configuration questions.