WordPress.org temporarily lifts its ban on WP Engine

WordPress.org has lifted its ban on hosting provider WP Engine until October 1, after putting a block on it earlier this week. The block prevented several sites from updating their plug-ins and themes and exposing them to potential security risk.

WordPress co-founder Matt Mullenweg, who has been in a tussle with WP Engine for over a week, blamed WP Engine’s private equity investor, Silver Lake.

“I’ve heard from WP Engine customers that they are frustrated that WP Engine hasn’t been able to make updates, plugin directory, theme directory, and Openverse work on their sites. It saddens me that they’ve been negatively impacted by Silver Lake‘s commercial decisions,” Mullenweg said on the WordPress.org blog.

“WP Engine was well aware that we could remove access when they chose to ignore our efforts to resolve our differences and enter into a commercial licensing agreement. Heather Brunner, Lee Wittlinger, and their Board chose to take this risk. WPE was also aware that they were placing this risk directly on WPE customers,” he added.

After Mullenweg barred WP Engine from accessing WordPress.org resources, many people in the WordPress community criticized the sudden move, which affected several websites.

In the past week, Mullenweg called WP Engine “Cancer to WordPress” and called them out on their lack of contributions to the WordPress ecosystem. WP Engine sent a cease-and-desist letter to Automattic— which owns WordPress.com and has an exclusive commercial license to the WordPress trademark — and Mullenweg to withdraw these comments. In reply, Automattic also sent its cease-and-desist letter to WP Engine, accusing them of trademark infringement.

This fight impacts a larger ecosystem as WordPress technology is open source and free, and it powers a huge chunk of the internet — around 40% of websites. Websites can host their own WordPress instance or use a provider like Automattic or WP Engine for a plug-and-play solution.

Over the last few days, Mullenweg has said that his fight is against WP Engine — and primarily about tradermarks. However, the WordPress community at large has felt uncertain about how they can use WordPress in their services and if Automattic or Mullenweg would come after them as well.

The WordPress Foundation, which owns the WordPress trademark, filed for two new trademarks, “Managed WordPress” and “Hosted WordPress,” in July. Developers and providers are worried that if these trademarks are granted, they could be used against them.