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Web hosting provider WP Engine has filed a lawsuit against Automattic , and WordPress Centennial State - founder Matt Mullenweg , accusing them of extortion and vilification of power . The lawsuit come after nearlytwo weeks of tussling between Mullenweg , who is also CEO of Automattic , and WP Engineover trademark infringement and donation to the open - source WordPress project .
WP Engine accused Automattic and Mullenweg of not observe their hope to ply WordPress open - generator projects without any constraint and giving developers the exemption to work up , run , modify and redistribute the software .
“ Matt Mullenweg ’s demeanor over the last ten days has expose significant conflicts of interest group and government activity issues that , if left unchecked , peril to destroy that trust . WP Engine has no option but to pursue these claims to protect its the great unwashed , office partners , customer , and the broader WordPress community , ” the company say .
The case text file , filed in a court in California , also accused Mullenweg of having a “ farseeing history ofobfuscating the true facts ” about his command of WordPress Foundation and WordPress.org
The story so far
Mullenweg had criticized WP Engine for contravene WordPress and WooCommerce trademarks . He called themthe “ Cancer of WordPress”and also phone out WP Engine ’s private equity partner , Silver Lake , for not caring about the subject - source community .
Notably , Mullenwegbanned WP Engine on September 25from access WordPress.org resources , including hype - ins and themes , and preventing WP Engine customer from updating them . Two days by and by , Mullenweg provide a temporary hiatus andunblocked WP Engine until October 1 .
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On Wednesday , Automattic publisheda proposed seven - class term sheetthat it had send to WP Engine on September 20 , asking the hosting company to devote 8 % of its gross revenues per calendar month as a royalty fee for using the WordPress and WooCommerce trademarks .
Alternatively , WP Engine was given the choice to commit 8 % by deploy employees to put up to WordPress ’s core features and functionality , or a combination of both people hours and money .
WP Engine did n’t accept these terms , which included a probation on ramify plugins and extensions from Automattic and WooCommerce .
you’re able to get hold of this reporter at im@ivanmehta.com or on Signal : @ivan.42
