WordPress announces it will block access from WP Engine, stating that users whose sites are broken should contact WP Engine to fix them

Automattic, the company that develops WordPress , has criticized WordPress-focused hosting service WP Engine for freeloading on the WordPress ecosystem. Following Automattic's sending of a cease and desist letter to WP Engine, the company has announced that it will block access to wordpress.org from WP Engine.

WP Engine is banned from WordPress.org – WordPress News
https://wordpress.org/news/2024/09/wp-engine-banned/

WPE & Trademarks | Matt Mullenweg
https://ma.tt/2024/09/wordpress-engine/

WordPress is an open source content management system that has been popular with many users since its launch in 2003, and it is estimated that more than 40% of websites will be created with WordPress as of 2024. Many companies, including Automattic, led by Matt Mullenweg, the developer of WordPress, have made money from WordPress hosting services.

On September 21, 2024, WordPress named WP Engine, one of the WordPress hosting services, on its official website, criticizing it for making the same amount of revenue as Automattic, but contributing only about one-hundredth of the development of WordPress.

Automattic CEO and WordPress developer Matt Mullenweg sharply criticizes WP Engine as 'the cancer of WordPress' - GIGAZINE

WP Engine responded by demanding a retraction of the statement, calling the criticism 'unjustified and false,' but Automattic responded by sending a cease and desist letter, alleging that Automattic was misleading consumers into thinking that WP Engine is synonymous with WordPress.

WordPress developer Automattic sends cease and desist letter to WP Engine for use of WordPress trademark - GIGAZINE

On September 25, 2024, WordPress announced on its official website that it would block access to wordpress.org from WP Engine. As a result of the blockage, plugins and themes provided on wordpress.org will no longer be available, and users will no longer be able to receive updates to fix vulnerabilities.

In its announcement, WordPress said, 'WP Engine is free to modify WordPress code and profit from a knock-off that provides the user experience WP Engine envisions,' but added, 'If WP Engine wants to control the WordPress experience, it needs to run its own user login system, update server, plugin directory, theme directory, pattern directory, block directory, translations, photo directory, job board, meetups, conferences, bug tracker, forums, Slack, Ping-o-matic and Showcase,' and said it would block access to wordpress.org, which provides these features.

The announcement also includes language making it clear that WP Engine is responsible for support, such as 'users whose sites are broken should contact WP Engine to fix them.'

Regarding the whole affair, Mr. Marenweg criticized freeloading on open source projects, saying, 'Companies that make a lot of money from open source projects should give back, and if they don't, they shouldn't use the trademarks.'