Judge Sides With WP Engine Against Automattic & Mullenweg In WordPress Dispute via @sejournal, @martinibuster

A justice ruled successful WP Engine’s favour successful their petition for a preliminary injunction against Automattic and Matt Mullenweg. The tribunal agreed that WP Engine volition endure irreparable harm if the injunction is not granted and giving the defendants (Automattic and Mullenweg) 72 hours to instrumentality things to the mode they were arsenic of September 20th, 2024.

The justice ruled against Mullenweg and Automattic connected each argument, granting WP Engine a preliminary injunction. The ruling requires the defendants to reconstruct WP Engine’s entree to WordPress.org, regain power of the WordPress.org directory listing for the Advanced Custom Fields (ACF) plugin, and region a database of WP Engine customers from the domains.csv record linked connected the wordpressenginetracker.com website.

There were six parts labeled A – F that outline the judge’s investigation of the case:

A. Success connected the Merits

B. Irreparable Harm

C. Balance of Equities

D. Public Interest

E. Bond

F. Scope of Injunction

A. Success connected the Merits

On WP Engine’s “claim for tortious interference with contractual relations” the justice ruled:

“Defendants’ arguments successful absorption bash not compel a antithetic conclusion.

Defendants’ statement that the interference WPEngine alleges consists of acts they had a close to instrumentality fares nary better.”

B. Irreparable Harm

Mullenweg and Automattic wholly failed astatine defending against WP Engine’s claims of irreparable harm if the injunction isn’t granted. The justice wrote:

“Defendants antagonistic with 4 arguments. None is persuasive”

C. Balance of Equities

In this portion of the ruling the justice had to measurement the interaction of the injunction connected some parties. The justice recovered that WP Engine had bully crushed for obtaining an injunction to forestall further harm and that determination would beryllium nary interaction connected Automattic oregon Mullenweg.

The justice wrote:

“The behaviour described astatine magnitude supra – including the termination of WPEngine’s entree to WordPress, the interference with the ACF plugin, and the further burdens imposed connected WPEngine’s customers, specified arsenic the sign-in pledge – demonstrates that WPEngine has a important involvement successful obtaining preliminary injunctive relief.

Defendants’ arguments successful absorption bash not found that they volition endure immoderate harm that overrides WPEngine’s involvement successful obtaining relief. …Requiring Defendants to reconstruct entree connected those presumption portion this enactment proceeds imposes a minimal burden.”

D. Public Interest

This portion of the ruling addresses however granting the injunction impacts parties beyond the plaintiff and defendants. The justice concluded that denying the preliminary injunction would origin important harm.

The tribunal explained:

“Here, the nationalist consequences of withholding injunctive alleviation are significant. Mullenweg himself acknowledges that ‘[t]oday, much than 40% of each websites tally connected WordPress.’

…Over 2 cardinal websites tally the ACF plugin Mullenweg allegedly tampered with, and those users trust connected the stableness of the plugin, and WordPress much broadly, to run their websites, tally their businesses, and spell astir their time online.

Moreover, the availability of WordPress arsenic open-source bundle has created a assemblage for companies to run astatine a profit. This includes Mullenweg’s ain companies similar Automattic and Pressable, and arsenic Mullenweg himself acknowledged successful 2017, it besides includes WPEngine, which astatine the time, Mullenweg described arsenic ‘the largest dedicated managed WP host…’

Those who person relied connected the WordPress’s stability, and the continuity of enactment from for-fee work providers who person built businesses astir WordPress, should not person to endure the uncertainty, losses, and accrued costs of doing concern attendant to the parties’ existent dispute.

Defendants’ arguments successful absorption bash not transportation otherwise.

…Accordingly, the last Winter constituent – the nationalist involvement – weighs successful favour of granting preliminary injunctive relief.”

E. Bond

Automattic and Mullenweg argued that WP Engine should beryllium required record a enslaved of $1.6 cardinal to guarantee that they are compensated for imaginable costs and damages if it’s aboriginal recovered that the preliminary injunction was granted without capable basis.

The justice agreed with WP Engine’s statement that reverting to the presumption quo, to however things were connected September 20th, would person nary effect.

They wrote:

“WPEngine’s arguments are persuasive. …the Court finds that immoderate harm to Defendants resulting from the issuance of preliminary injunctive alleviation is unlikely, arsenic it simply requires them to revert to concern arsenic accustomed arsenic of September 20, 2024. Accordingly, the Court declines to necessitate WPEngine to station a bond.”

F. Scope Of Injunction

The tribunal has ordered the defendants, their coworkers, and anyone helping them to halt doing the pursuing things:

• Preventing WP Engine, its employees, users, customers, oregon partners from accessing WordPress.org.
• Disrupting WP Engine’s power implicit oregon entree to plugins oregon extensions hosted connected WordPress.org
• Modifying WP Engine plugins connected WordPress installations (websites built with WordPress software) done unauthorized auto-migrate oregon auto-update commands
• The tribunal ordered that the defendants instrumentality actions wrong 72 hours to code WP Engine’s claims and reconstruct things to the mode they were connected September 20, 2024.
• Delete the database of WP Engine customers from the WP Engine Tracker website and the GitHub repository.
• Restore WP Engine worker login credentials to WordPress.org and login.wordpress.org.
• Disable immoderate “technological blocking” similar IP blocking, that were acceptable up astir September 25, 2024.
• Remove the checkbox added connected October 8, 2024, astatine login.wordpress.org, which required users to corroborate they were ‘not affiliated with WP Engine successful immoderate way, financially oregon otherwise.’
• Restore WP Engine’s power implicit its Advanced Custom Fields (ACF) plugin directory listing to the mode it was connected September 20, 2024.

The injunction goes into effect instantly and volition stay until the tribunal issues a last judgement aft the trial.

A Win For WP Engine And The WordPress Community

Many radical hold with the rule that those who nett from WordPress should springiness backmost to it. However the overwhelming sentiment connected societal media has not been supportive of however Mullenweg’s actions against WP Engine. Today a justice agreed with WP Engine and issued a preliminary injunction successful their favor.

Featured Image by Shutterstock/Brian A Jackson