Matt Mullenweg vs. Everyone 2: Electric Boogaloo  ## Metadata - Author: [[jeffmatson.net]] - Full Title: Matt Mullenweg vs. Everyone 2: Electric Boogaloo - Category: #articles - Document Note: --- tags: [#lawyers, #patent-law, #opensource, #WordPress] - #lawyers - #patent-law - #opensource Author: Jeff Matson Source: Jeff Matson's Blog Reference: [Mo' Lawyers, Mo' Problems](https://jeffmatson.net/blog/mo-lawyers-mo-problems/) date created: {{date:2024-09-26}} {{time:15:15}} --- # Title: Mo' Lawyers, Mo' Problems ## Table of Contents:  - 📝 [Summary](#📝-summary) - 📖 [Main Content](#📖-main-content) - 🗒️ [Notes](#🗒️-notes) - 📖 [References](#📖-references) - 🗣️ [Paraphrase](#🗣️-paraphrase) - 📰 [Newsletter](#📰-newsletter) - ✅ [Action Items](#✅-action-items) - 🧪 [Hypotheses](#🧪-hypotheses) - 📊 [Methodology](#📊-methodology) - ❓ [Questions](#❓-questions) - 🔮 [Future Research](#🔮-future-research) - 💡 [Implications](#💡-implications) - 🧠 [Learning Styles Assessment](#🧠-learning-styles-assessment) - 📊 [Accessibility Assessment](#📊-accessibility-assessment) - 🌍 [DEIB Assessment](#🌍-deib-assessment) - ✅ [Logical Validity](#✅-logical-validity) - 🔍 [SEO Evaluation](#🔍-seo-evaluation) - 🎯 [Conclusion](#🎯-conclusion) ## 📝 Summary: In "Mo' Lawyers, Mo' Problems," Jeff Matson discusses the increasing legal complexities surrounding open-source projects like WordPress, focusing on patent issues and how they affect developers. He emphasizes the importance of understanding legal pitfalls, especially as WordPress continues to grow and intersect with proprietary software. ## 📖 Main Content: The article begins by outlining the challenges that come with legal entanglements in open-source software, particularly patent law. Matson explains how developers, often focused on technical aspects, can find themselves in murky legal waters if they aren’t careful. The post highlights cases where patent trolls and large corporations have taken advantage of poorly understood legal frameworks to hinder innovation. Matson also stresses the importance of seeking legal advice and ensuring proper licensing and patent protection in the software industry, especially as WordPress grows in popularity. ### 🗒️ Notes - Open-source developers face increasing legal challenges, especially related to patents. - WordPress, being a widely used platform, is especially vulnerable to these issues. - Matson warns against "patent trolls" who exploit legal gaps to stifle innovation. - Developers should seek legal advice and be aware of licensing issues to avoid pitfalls. - As WordPress grows, understanding these legal intricacies is essential for both developers and contributors. ## 📖 References: - Jeff Matson, [Mo' Lawyers, Mo' Problems](https://jeffmatson.net/blog/mo-lawyers-mo-problems/) ## 🗣️ Paraphrase:  1. Jeff Matson highlights how open-source projects, particularly WordPress, are becoming more entangled with patent laws, leading to potential legal risks for developers who aren't well-versed in the complexities of patent litigation. 2. Matson underscores that developers must stay vigilant regarding legal challenges, advising them to seek legal advice and be mindful of licensing terms to safeguard their work from patent trolls or large corporations. ## 📰 Newsletter: This issue covers an insightful article from Jeff Matson about the legal hurdles developers face when working with open-source software like WordPress. As the platform grows, understanding the potential for patent litigation becomes more important. Matson explains the importance of avoiding legal pitfalls by ensuring developers stay informed about licensing and patent issues. If you’re interested in learning more about protecting your work in the WordPress ecosystem, read the full post [here](https://jeffmatson.net/blog/mo-lawyers-mo-problems/). We’ve also got the latest updates on WordPress development, community highlights, and exciting new plugins! ## ✅ Action Items: - Raise awareness among open-source contributors about the legal risks associated with patents and licensing. - Advocate for transparency and legal education within the WordPress community to help developers avoid patent litigation. - Consider incorporating legal guidelines and resources for developers into onboarding materials for new contributors. ## 🧪 Hypotheses: - Open-source developers are more vulnerable to patent litigation as their projects grow in popularity. - Increased legal education and awareness could reduce the number of developers entangled in patent disputes. ### 📊 Methodology: - Survey developers in the WordPress community about their understanding of patent law and legal risks. - Analyze past cases of open-source patent litigation to identify common factors leading to legal challenges. ### ❓ Questions: - How can WordPress contributors better protect themselves from patent trolls? - What legal resources are available to open-source developers, and how can access to these resources be improved? ### 🔮 Future Research: - Investigate the long-term impact of patent law on the innovation within open-source communities. - Explore the effectiveness of current legal frameworks in protecting open-source contributors from patent litigation. ### 💡 Implications: - Future research could lead to better legal protections for open-source developers and contribute to more robust frameworks for innovation within the WordPress community. ### 🧠 Learning Styles Assessment: 1. **Visual Learners (Spatial)**: - **Present**: No visual aids in the article. - **Improve**: Add infographics or charts explaining common legal challenges and solutions in open-source development. 2. **Aural Learners (Auditory-Musical)**: - **Present**: No auditory elements. - **Improve**: Provide an audio version of the article or embed a podcast episode discussing patent laws in open-source. 3. **Verbal Learners (Linguistic)**: - **Present**: The article is written with clear language, making complex legal topics accessible. - **Improve**: Include links to additional legal resources and readings for those interested in exploring the topic further. 4. **Physical Learners (Kinesthetic)**: - **Present**: No interactive components. - **Improve**: Include examples of real-life patent disputes and offer exercises for readers to explore how they might navigate similar challenges. 5. **Logical Learners (Mathematical)**: - **Present**: The article is logically structured, offering clear explanations of cause-and-effect relationships in legal issues. - **Improve**: Add flowcharts or decision trees to help readers understand legal steps and consequences. 6. **Social Learners (Interpersonal)**: - **Present**: No collaboration or group learning opportunities. - **Improve**: Suggest participation in online forums or discussions about open-source licensing challenges and potential solutions. 7. **Solitary Learners (Intrapersonal)**: - **Present**: The article provides a strong foundation for self-reflection on legal awareness. - **Improve**: Encourage readers to reflect on their own legal knowledge and consider legal resources for their open-source contributions. 8. **Naturalistic Learners**: - **Present**: Not applicable. - **Improve**: No changes needed. ### 📊 Accessibility Assessment: - **Screen Reader Compatibility**: Ensure all legal terms and references are properly tagged for accessibility. - **Keyboard Navigation**: Test for proper navigation for users with motor disabilities. - **Improve**: Consider adding an audio version for those with visual impairments. ### 🌍 DEIB Assessment: - **Cultural Relevance**: The article primarily focuses on Western legal systems. - **Improve**: Include examples from other legal systems or discuss the global implications of patent law in open-source projects. - **Inclusive Language**: The language is neutral and avoids any exclusionary terms. - **Neurodiversity Support**: The article’s structure is clear and well-organized, supporting readers with attention challenges. - **Improve**: Add more bullet points and shorter sections to enhance readability for neurodiverse readers. - **Representation**: The article doesn’t address diversity in the legal profession or the challenges faced by underrepresented groups in open-source development. - **Improve**: Add more case studies or examples that r - Document Tags: [[matt mullenweg]] [[open source corporate contribution]] [[wordpress]] [[wpdrama]] [[wp engine]] - Summary: I'm still catching up, but here's the next post in the Matt vs Everyone fiasco. - URL: https://jeffmatson.net/blog/mo-lawyers-mo-problems/ * [Home](https://jeffmatson.net/) * [About](https://jeffmatson.net/about) * [Projects](https://jeffmatson.net/projects) * [Blog](https://jeffmatson.net/blog) * Sanity Mode ### Matt Mullenweg vs. Everyone 2: Electric Boogaloo *(Note: Ugh, this thing is developing faster than my COVID-addled brain digest and write. Bear with me. There’s more coming immediately after I publish this one. Coverage on more recent events from last night, such as Matt blocking WP Engine customers accessing the WordPress.org repository, are coming shortly.)* *(Note 2: I’m doing a hell of a lot more writing than I am editing. If you come across any typos or whatever, please feel free to submit a pull request on GitHub. It’s very appreciated.)* Alright, homies - it’s been another day of this Matt Mullenweg/WP Engine/Automattic/WordPress Foundation/Silver Lake fiasco. Another day, another round of stuff to go over. Rather than updating the original post right now, I’m posting this supplemental content. I’ll try to go back and update the first [Matt Mullenweg Vs. Everyone](https://jeffmatson.net/blog/matt-v-everyone) post with more of the details from this and future posts, but for now, speed matters. Once again, I’m not a lawyer, and this isn’t legal advice. Eveything is purely my own findings and opinions. Don’t C&D me, bro.  #### Cease and Desists Are Flying Like Hotcakes Cease and desists are getting passed out faster than crappy hosting swag at a WordCamp. So far, the ones confirmed are: * WP Engine sent one to Automattic with a whole lot of juicy details. * Automattic responded with their own. Additionally, I’m hearing rumors of legal documents going out to other hosts regarding their usage of terms like “Managed WordPress Hosting” and similar. Unfortunately, I haven’t seen any of these personally, so I can’t entirely confirm their existence. When I can, rest assured that I’ll do everything I can to report them. Tangible legal orders aside, I’ve confirmed that some companies are already tossing up “please do not engage” requests to their employees. To be fair, I don’t blame them - this shit is gonna get even nastier than it already is. Nobody wants to get hit in the crossfire because their employee said something that got misrepresented as an official statement. I’ve been sitting here, reading, re-reading, digesting, notating, considering, gasping, sighing, smirking, and frowning over these documents since the first one popped up. I keep trying to find the angles - looking between the lines at what might be missing. So far, it keep leading down the same path: “welp, this ain’t gonna end well…”. It looks like a child having a tantrum because he’s losing the game, even though he had a head start to begin with. On the same token, I’m also reminding myself that this is a cease and desist letter. Therefore, I want to remind the rest of the community the same: **This. Is. A. Cease. And. Desist. Letter.** Do you know who writes cease and desist letters? Lawyers. Lawyers are professional dickheads. Professional dickheads with one thing on their mind: making money for their clients, usually by means of burying their competition. ##### WP Engine’s Legal Response Phew! That last section was way longer than I thought it would be. Anyways, if you’re still with me, let’s start by looking at [WP Engine’s legal response](https://wpengine.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/09/Cease-and-Desist-Letter-to-Automattic-and-Request-to-Preserve-Documents-Sent.pdf) ([mirror](https://web.archive.org/web/20240924000543/https://wpengine.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/09/Cease-and-Desist-Letter-to-Automattic-and-Request-to-Preserve-Documents-Sent.pdf)). Since it’s a fairly short read and I’m sure most of you have already read through it a bunch of times, I’m not going to reiterate their claims. Instead, I’ll stick to what I do best: providing commentary. *(Once more, before any of those professional dickheads come knocking on my door, I have to remind you that these are all claims that have yet to be proven in court. For brevity, I’m not going to bore you with the “allegedly” and “X claims Y did Z” language. Again, not a lawyer - just an asshole who loves the WordPress community.)* Based on how I interpret this C&D from WP Engine, it looks like Matt Mullenweg and Automattic’s CFO Mark Davies tried to play their hand, then failed miserably - on their face, directly into a steaming pile of shit. It looks like they tried to broker a deal, got rejected at every point, and when that didn’t work, they threw up a hail mary while ultimately backfired. There’s a few other details here to digest, but we’ll get to those later. ##### Automattic’s Legal Response Of course, Automattic responded with [their own cease and desist](https://automattic.com/2024/wp-engine-cease-and-desist.pdf) ([mirror](https://web.archive.org/web/20240925004750/https://automattic.com/2024/wp-engine-cease-and-desist.pdf)). But… ummmm… very differently, and in a fashion that puts the entire WordPress community at risk. *(I’m tired of writing legal disclaimers. If you’re a lawyer looking for a reason to come after an unemployed pothead with way too much time on his hands, please kindly scroll up, read the other disclaimers, apply them to this and everything else, then promptly find something better to do with your time.)* While WP Engine’s cease and desist letter to Automattic was largely along the lines of: “hey, stop harassing us like this”, Automattic decided to push the boundaries of what their trademark allows - something that I see as very dangerous territory for all WordPress-based businesses. All in all, here’s how I (crudely) interpret it: “Please pay us an undisclosed amount - let’s start at $32 million per year - or else we’ll take you to court for merely uttering the word WordPress.” I don’t know about you, but that makes me quite uncomfortable, to say the least. ##### Automattic Goes Beyond The C&D In addition to the cease and desist that Automattic sent to WP Engine, they’ve been making a few other moves behind the scenes. Thank *<insert chosen deity>* for the members of this great community who have been working around the clock to uncover them. *(Seriously, a huge shoutout to everyone who has been working around the clock to gather information. Y’all are legends.)* ###### WordPress Trademark Policy Changes One of the changes discovered was that WordPress.org has recently changed the wording on their [trademark policy](https://wordpressfoundation.org/trademark-policy/). Until recently, it was clearly stated on page that the usage of “WP” was perfectly fine: *“The abbreviation “WP” is not covered by the WordPress trademarks and you are free to use it in any way you see fit.”* (See: [archived version](https://web.archive.org/web/20240924024555/https://wordpressfoundation.org/trademark-policy/)) It now reads as follows: “The abbreviation “WP” is not covered by the WordPress trademarks, but please don’t use it in a way that confuses people. For example, many people think WP Engine is “WordPress Engine” and officially associated with WordPress, which it’s not. They have never once even donated to the WordPress Foundation, despite making billions of revenue on top of WordPress.” This raises a few major concerns: 1. If the WordPress Foundation and Automattic are separate entities, why is Automattic’s influence so blatantly obvious within the WordPress Foundation’s trademark policy page? While it’s not uncommon for an incident to prompt policy changes, this looks like a clear attack to me. 2. Through creative wording, it makes nearly any use of “WP” complicated. If “WP Engine” creates brand confusion, wouldn’t “WP Forms”, “WP Rocket”, or “ManageWP”? ###### Trademark Filings for “Managed WordPress” and “Hosted WordPress” While trudging through this dumpster fire, the community has also discovered more alarming trademark plays. In July, Automattic filed for trademarks on the terms [“Managed WordPress”](https://tsdr.uspto.gov/#caseNumber=98646183&caseSearchType=US_APPLICATION&caseType=DEFAULT&searchType=statusSearch) and [“Hosted WordPress”](https://tsdr.uspto.gov/#caseNumber=98646185&caseSearchType=US_APPLICATION&caseType=DEFAULT&searchType=statusSearch). If these end up getting approved, it’s only a matter of time before every managed WordPress host out there starts getting legal notices. #### Here’s Where It Gets Scary For Everyone ##### We Need Fair Use While I was writing this post yesterday, I had this whole section about how “fair use” of trademarked terms is immensely important to this whole thing. Fortunately, I decided to give my COVID-addled brain a much needed break, and while doing so, Ryan McCue beat me to it by publishing an [excellent post on the topic of fair use](https://journal.rmccue.io/431/wp-engine-must-win/). Take the time to go read his post. It’s pretty much the same key point I was going to drop here. Thanks, Ryan. Well said. ##### Nobody Is Safe From Matt’s Mood Swings Just because WP Engine is the one being explicitly targeted by the legal BS, doesn’t mean that others aren’t already in the crosshairs - they just happen to be Automattic’s primary competitor in the hosting space. **In fact, it wouldn’t surprise me if he widened his targets soon - all in an effort to prove that he’s not playing favorites regarding the trademark claims.** What if he goes after trademarks for terms like “WordPress Agency”, or hell, even “WordPress Plugin”? What if Automattic’s legal team starts firing off C&Ds against anyone critical of Jetpack? The sky’s the limit. #### So What’s Next? I try to end most of these with at least one positive solution, but frankly, I’m at a loss right now. At the moment, my priority on publishing. Like I said, there’s another post coming immediately after this one gets published, so until then, hang in there. Much love, WordPress fam. We got this. Upgraded a bunch of stuff and in the middle of a rebuild. Comments are disabled for now., Matt Mullenweg vs. Everyone 2: Electric Boogaloo, jeffmatson.net, 01j8rg3e9752ra71ajzehjrwdq.