WP Engine, a WordPress hosting service, recently issued a cease-and-desist letter to Automattic following remarks made by Automattic’s CEO, Matt Mullenweg, referring to WP Engine as a “cancer to WordPress.”
The cease-and-desist letter demands that Automattic and Mullenweg retract their statements and refrain from making further disparaging comments about WP Engine.
WP Engine, which is involved in commercializing the open-source WordPress project like Automattic, accused Mullenweg of making threats against WP Engine prior to the WordCamp summit held last week.
According to the letter, Mullenweg demanded a large sum of money from WP Engine before his keynote address at the WordCamp US Convention and threatened to pursue a damaging course of action if his demands were not met.
WP Engine defended their use of the “WordPress” trademark and stated that they operate within fair use laws and guidelines set by the platform. The letter also includes screenshots of text messages from Mullenweg to WP Engine’s CEO and board members, indicating that Mullenweg would speak against WP Engine in his talk at WordCamp if they did not comply with Automattic’s demands.
Automattic has not yet responded to requests for comment on the matter.
Mullenweg, a co-creator of WordPress, previously criticized WP Engine for profiting without adequately contributing to the open-source project and disabling key features that enhance the WordPress platform.
In a blog post, Mullenweg compared WP Engine’s and Automattic’s contributions to the “Five for the Future” initiative, highlighting a significant disparity in weekly contributions despite both companies generating similar revenue figures.
Mullenweg also referred to WP Engine’s service as a “cheap knock-off” of WordPress in a separate blog post.
It’s worth noting that Automattic invested in WP Engine in 2011, providing $1.2 million in funding. WP Engine has since received over $300 million in equity funding, with a substantial portion coming from a $250 million investment by private equity firm Silver Lake in 2018.
