WP Engine Seeks Court Order to Prevent Matt Mullenweg Blocking WordPress Resources

WP Engine is seeking legal intervention to halt what it describes as a public campaign led by Automattic CEO Matt Mullenweg against the company. In a motion for a preliminary injunction filed against Automattic and Mullenweg, the third-party hosting platform is requesting the court to reinstate its access to WordPress resources and restore its control over a plugin that had been taken over.

In this legal filing, WP Engine asserts it is experiencing “multiple forms of immediate irreparable harm” due to the actions of Mullenweg and Automattic, citing losses in customers, market share, and goodwill. The company reported observing a 14 percent rise in cancellation requests between September 26th and 30th, following Mullenweg’s description of WP Engine as a “cancer” within the WordPress community.

WP Engine is asking for operations to return to the previous state before the dispute began. The motion further expresses concerns that developers are anxious, fearing potential demands or targeting by Mullenweg, which might result in their plugins being appropriated. The filing accuses the defendants of actions that increase security risks for the WordPress community.

An Automattic spokesperson, Megan Fox, responded to the allegations by dismissing them as “gross mischaracterizations of reality” in an email to The Verge. Fox stated that WP Engine has prioritized profits over the WordPress community while benefiting from the contributions of Mullenweg, Automattic, and the WordPress community without reciprocation.

This report includes an update as of October 18th, with Automattic’s statement added.

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