For those who might be wondering what comes next - IANAL, but, this is what seems to usually happen: Automattic has 72 hours to comply with the order. They pro

For those who might be wondering what comes next - IANAL, but, this is what seems to usually happen: Automattic has 72 hours to comply with the order. They probably will, plus or minus Matt being a whiny child about it. They have competent attorneys who are surely telling them to do so. They can also appeal the order, and they could even ask for the appeal to be granted on an emergency basis, but there's no promise that'd work, and usually it doesn't. The whole point of injunctions is that they stop things from changing until they're overturned by appeal or trial. If they do comply, the status quo resumes until this goes to trial. There's no guarantee that WP Engine prevails at trial, but the fact that the injunction was granted means it's pretty likely they will, unless facts or law materially changes in the meantime. The statement Automattic released suggests to me that this is the path they'll take. If they do not comply, things become... interesting. Of course, the case still eventually goes to trial. In the meantime, though, WP Engine can ask the court to force Automattic to comply. That probably looks like a motion to show cause why they have not complied, followed by further orders to comply and possible contempt findings. Contempt findings often come with monetary fines that escalate (e. g. $1,000 per day the first week, $2,000 per day the next, and so on). It can also come with jail time, though I am not sure how that works in cases where the entity being sued is a company. It probably won't get to that, though. Refusing to comply with a preliminary injunction is an extremely bad idea, which is why almost nobody does it. Even states and government actors with strong political desires for things and a lot of power nearly always comply. While Matt Mullenweg is clearly not a rational actor, and clearly is willing to do extremely dumb things despite the advice of council, the other people who work for Automattic (and certainly its investors) are unlikely to be so willing to ignore the order of a federal court. If they do, their lives are going to get worse, not better, and possibly rapidly. As of this writing, the Automattic WP Engine tracker site is still up. (Hopefully some actual attorneys who read HN can correct anything I got wrong. I just haven't seen anyone write this out yet.)