3 ms·

Can someone ELI5 this whole topic? Is the crux of the issue that WPE website use to say things like: "Start creating on WordPress today" or "Power your

Can someone ELI5 this whole topic? Is the crux of the issue that WPE website use to say things like: "Start creating on WordPress today" or "Power your creativity on the #1 platform for WordPress" Which might have implied that WPE was official Wordpress? https://web.archive.org/web/20220105010059/https://wpengine.com/ https://web.archive.org/web/20220105010059/https://wpengine.... --- In comparison to other companies like Pressable that simply use marketing copy like: "WordPress Hosting that Means Business" https://pressable.com https://pressable.com Though this is also confusing, because Automattic acquired majority equity stake in Pressable. So Pressable is Automattic. https://poststatus.com/automattic-pressable/ https://poststatus.com/automattic-pressable/ --- There's so much happening with this story that I feel like I don't understand what the root issue is.

chuckadams 2y ago
It's about disabling revisions. Or private equity. Or not contributing back to core. Or trademarks. Or freeloading on w.org infrastructure. Or hacking Stripe plugins. Or whatever else might stick to the wall in this 18-hour period... Start with this: https://lwn.net/SubscriberLink/991906/d7340f3b866d855b/ https://lwn.net/SubscriberLink/991906/d7340f3b866d855b/ Then read the complaint: https://wpengine.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/10/Complaint-WP-Engine-v-Automattic-et-al-with-Exhibit.pdf https://wpengine.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/10/Complaint-WP... (also the post's link). It's highly readable, not dense legalese at all.
legitster 2y ago
The ELI5 of why this is so complicated is what everyone thought was "Wordpress" was actually a cluster of shady self-serving business dealings by Matt Mullenweg. The Wordpress Foundation does not actually own the name "Wordpress". The name is essentially owned by Matt Mullenweg and he licenses it out to the Foundation and other organizations which he approves of. Matt Mullenweg was personally displeased with certain aspects of WPEngine's business, asked for money from them, and then cut off all of WPEngine's customers from accessing shared Wordpress resources. And the justification he is using was WP Engine's infringement of the copyright.
- pwillia7 2y ago
  Do individuals/nonprofits have different rules in the Sherman act?
  - legitster 2y ago
    I am not sure what the Sherman act has to do with it. The more pressing problems for Mullenweg is that he is directly extorting another company, and potentially using his Wordpress non-profit organizations as a tax-fraud scheme.

chuckadams 2y ago

It's about disabling revisions. Or private equity. Or not contributing back to core. Or trademarks. Or freeloading on w.org infrastructure. Or hacking Stripe plugins. Or whatever else might stick to the wall in this 18-hour period... Start with this: https://lwn.net/SubscriberLink/991906/d7340f3b866d855b/ https://lwn.net/SubscriberLink/991906/d7340f3b866d855b/ Then read the complaint: https://wpengine.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/10/Complaint-WP-Engine-v-Automattic-et-al-with-Exhibit.pdf https://wpengine.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/10/Complaint-WP... (also the post's link). It's highly readable, not dense legalese at all.

legitster 2y ago

The ELI5 of why this is so complicated is what everyone thought was "Wordpress" was actually a cluster of shady self-serving business dealings by Matt Mullenweg. The Wordpress Foundation does not actually own the name "Wordpress". The name is essentially owned by Matt Mullenweg and he licenses it out to the Foundation and other organizations which he approves of. Matt Mullenweg was personally displeased with certain aspects of WPEngine's business, asked for money from them, and then cut off all of WPEngine's customers from accessing shared Wordpress resources. And the justification he is using was WP Engine's infringement of the copyright.

pwillia7 2y ago
Do individuals/nonprofits have different rules in the Sherman act?
- legitster 2y ago
  I am not sure what the Sherman act has to do with it. The more pressing problems for Mullenweg is that he is directly extorting another company, and potentially using his Wordpress non-profit organizations as a tax-fraud scheme.