The New Normal  ## Metadata - Author: [[Thomas Claburn]] - Full Title: The New Normal - Category: #articles - Document Note: --- tags: #WordPress #Automattic #WP_Engine #Web_Hosting #Open_Source #Trademark_Dispute Author: Thomas Claburn Source: The Register Reference: [Automattic creates website tracking WP Engine departures](https://www.theregister.com/2024/11/08/automattic_tracking_wpengine/) date created: 2024-11-10 18:35 --- # Title: Automattic Creates Website Tracking WP Engine Departures ## 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) - [🔍 DARVO Analysis](#-darvo-analysis) - [🔍 SEO Evaluation](#-seo-evaluation) - [🎯 Conclusion](#-conclusion) ## 📝 Summary: Automattic, led by CEO Matt Mullenweg, has launched a website tracking WordPress customers leaving rival WP Engine, a move tied to a heated dispute over trademark use and contributions to the open-source WordPress ecosystem. The tracker has reported over 16,700 departures from WP Engine since September 2024. This public display has sparked debate, with some critics viewing it as an aggressive strategy that could be considered doxxing WP Engine customers. ## 📖 Main Content: Automattic’s recent move to create a website monitoring WP Engine customer departures highlights ongoing tension between the two companies. The tracking site was created amidst a conflict involving trademark use, with Automattic’s leadership claiming WP Engine profits from WordPress without contributing sufficiently. This has led to actions such as Automattic blocking WP Engine-hosted sites from updates and forking plugins maintained by WP Engine. The situation escalated with 159 Automattic employees leaving the company and a lawsuit filed by WP Engine, alleging extortion, libel, interference with contracts, and other accusations. Community reactions are mixed, with some defending Automattic’s position on protecting the WordPress community’s values, while others view the public listing of customer data as problematic. ### 🗒️ Notes **Automattic’s Strategic Move**: - **Launch of Tracking Site**: Automattic launched a tool that tracks sites moving away from WP Engine. This move is seen as a method to exert pressure on WP Engine by making customer departures public. - **Data Insight**: The tracker notes 16,700+ site migrations since September 21, 2024. **Purpose and Criticism**: - **Stated Purpose**: Automattic claims the tracker’s purpose is to highlight WP Engine’s alleged lack of contribution and profiting from WordPress. - **Community Backlash**: Critics argue that publishing customer migrations can be seen as a form of doxxing. Concerns about privacy and ethical boundaries have been voiced, particularly on forums like Reddit. - **GitHub Response**: A pull request on the site’s GitHub repository proposed changing its description to reflect criticism of CEO Mullenweg's tactics, but this request was dismissed. **Background of the Dispute**: - **CEO’s Stance**: Matt Mullenweg has been vocal about his belief that WP Engine profits without giving back to the community. - **Previous Actions**: Automattic has implemented measures such as blocking WP Engine sites from accessing core updates and forking plugins that WP Engine maintained. - **Lawsuit Details**: WP Engine responded by filing a federal lawsuit accusing Automattic and Mullenweg of several offenses, including unfair competition and computer fraud. **Employee Departures**: - **Internal Conflict**: The tension led to the resignation of 159 employees from Automattic, a sign of significant internal disagreement or strategic fallout. - **Impact on Automattic’s Reputation**: These departures may affect Automattic’s public image and trust within the WordPress community. **Legal and Ethical Implications**: - **Preliminary Injunction**: A hearing for WP Engine's request for an injunction is set for later this month. The outcome could set a precedent for competitive practices within open-source ecosystems. - **Ethical Dilemmas**: The use of public tracking for competitive leverage raises questions about responsible data use and community-oriented ethics. **Community Reactions and Analysis**: - **Mixed Opinions**: Supporters see Automattic’s actions as a necessary defense of WordPress’s open-source integrity. Detractors argue that these tactics could harm smaller site owners and weaken trust in Automattic’s leadership. - **Reddit Discussions**: Some describe the tracker as a strategic form of doxxing, warning that public data lists could have unintended negative consequences for individual site owners. - **Transparency vs. Privacy**: The balance between transparency in open-source practices and the right to user privacy is under scrutiny. This debate extends to discussions on how data should be shared within competitive markets. **Lessons for the Open-Source Community**: - **Contribution and Accountability**: The dispute spotlights the complex nature of contributions in open-source projects and the tension between for-profit entities and community values. - **Advocacy for Guidelines**: The need for clear guidelines on competitive practices and responsible data usage within open-source communities is evident. - **Potential Ramifications**: The outcome of this dispute could influence future interactions between hosting providers, contributors, and other stakeholders in the WordPress ecosystem. **Technical and Strategic Insights**: - **Operational Risks**: The approach Automattic has taken could have ripple effects on partnerships and collaborative projects. - **Alternative Measures**: Suggests that future disputes might be better managed with private negotiations or moderated discussions within community forums rather than public tracking. - **Precedent Setting**: If WP Engine’s lawsuit succeeds, it could set a boundary for competitive and marketing practices in open-source domains. ## 📖 References: - [Automattic creates website tracking WP Engine departures](https://www.theregister.com/2024/11/08/automattic_tracking_wpengine/) ## 🗣️ Paraphrase: 1. **Original**: "Automattic CEO Matt Mullenweg’s dispute with WP Engine led to the creation of a website that publicly tracks WordPress customers departing from WP Engine." - **Paraphrase**: The conflict between Automattic’s CEO, Matt Mullenweg, and WP Engine has resulted in the launch of a site that displays the migration of WordPress customers leaving WP Engine. 2. **Original**: "Some critics describe the tracking website as 'doxxing' WP Engine customers due to its public listing of sites as a downloadable .csv file." - **Paraphrase**: Critics have labeled the tracking website as a form of 'doxxing' because it makes a downloadable .csv file of WP Engine-hosted sites available to the public. ## 📰 Newsletter: 🚨 **WordPress Community Update**: Tensions between Automattic and WP Engine have risen with the launch of a site tracking customer migrations from WP Engine. While Automattic argues this highlights issues of contribution in the WordPress ecosystem, critics see it as a concerning move bordering on customer doxxing. With over 16,700 sites leaving WP Engine since September 2024, this dispute is reshaping conversations about open-source ethics, data privacy, and competition. Keep an eye on the upcoming court hearing for WP Engine’s injunction request. Stay informed! Read more here: [link]. ## ✅ Action Items: - **Developer Outreach**: - Foster discussions on ethical data use and transparency within the WordPress community. - Create webinars and workshops focusing on how hosting providers and developers can maintain collaborative, responsible practices. - **Open-Source Advocacy**: - Use this case to promote stronger community guidelines on competitive practices - Document Tags: [[matt mullenweg]] [[wordpress]] [[wpdrama]] [[wp engine]] - Summary: The new normal - URL: https://www.theregister.com/2024/11/08/automattic_tracking_wpengine/ The feud between Automattic CEO Matt Mullenweg and rival web hosting firm WP Engine has led Automattic to create a website that lists WordPress customers who have moved their site hosting away from WP Engine and those who haven't. "The purpose of this site is to track how many sites have left WP Engine," the site's [GitHub repo](https://github.com/wordpressenginetracker/wordpressenginetracker.github.io) explains. Mullenweg, co-creator of WordPress, head of commercial WordPress hosting firm Automattic, and a board member of the WordPress Foundation overseeing the open source WordPress software project, in September began disparaging WP Engine for, as the chief exec saw it, refusing to pay tens of millions of dollars annually to use the "WordPress" trademark. The CEO contends that WP Engine should pay because it fails to adequately contribute back to the WordPress project. And to pressure the company into doing so, Mullenweg supported steps such as [blocking](https://www.theregister.com/2024/09/26/wordpressorg_denies_service_to_wp/) WP Engine-hosted websites from connecting to WordPress.org for software updates and [forking](https://www.theregister.com/2024/10/14/wordpress_forks_wpengine_plugin/) a WP Engine-maintained plugin. Hostilities between the two camps led last month to the departure of 159 Automattic staff members and [a federal lawsuit](https://www.theregister.com/2024/10/04/automattic_offers_dissident_employees_incentive/) from WP Engine alleging attempted extortion, libel, interference with contractual relations, computer fraud and abuse, and unfair competition, among other claims. A hearing on WP Engine's request for a preliminary injunction is scheduled for later this month. According to the [WP Engine Tracker website](http://wordpressenginetracker.com), more than 16,700 sites have left already WPE since September 21 as of the time this article was filed, up from 15,080 [on November 6](https://x.com/WordPress/status/1854271844309684285). The site does not say whether anyone has moved in the opposite direction, from Automattic or other hosts to WP Engine or to another content management ecosystem entirely. Critics of the tracking site on Reddit [describe it](https://www.reddit.com/r/Wordpress/comments/1glejno/comment/lvtuicu/) as "doxxing" WP Engine customers because it makes a list of WP Engine sites available as a .csv file. And [a pull request](https://github.com/wordpressenginetracker/wordpressenginetracker.github.io/pull/4/commits/dcb78c5499e512f02108b55f02ba114ea2a85515) submitted by developer Toby Nieboer suggests changing the website's stated purpose to read: "The purpose of this site is to demonstrate how utterly asinine Matt Mullenweg can be." That pull request was closed. * [Cisco scores a perfect CVSS 10 with critical flaw in its wireless system](https://www.theregister.com/2024/11/07/cisco_uiws_flaw/) * [Sysadmin shock as Windows Server 2025 installs itself after update labeling error](https://www.theregister.com/2024/11/06/windows_server_2025_surprise/) * [The US government wants developers to stop using C and C++](https://www.theregister.com/2024/11/08/the_us_government_wants_developers/) * [TSMC halts advanced chip shipments to Chinese AI companies](https://www.theregister.com/2024/11/08/tsmc_chinese_ai_shipments/) GitHub Issues posts have [pointed](https://github.com/wordpressenginetracker/wordpressenginetracker.github.io/issues/5) out the irony of Automattic making a trademark claim against WP Engine while simultaneously using the trademarked "WP Engine" on its tracking website. It's also been [argued](https://github.com/wordpressenginetracker/wordpressenginetracker.github.io/issues/6) that the tracking site violates WordPress' own [trademark policy](https://wordpressfoundation.org/trademark-policy/) by using "WordPress" in a domain name. > The beauty of open source software is that everyone is able to access data on a granular level, because it's all publicly available information > > A spokesperson for Automattic defended the website, telling *The Register*, "The beauty of open source software is that everyone is able to access data on a granular level, because it’s all publicly available information. "That public data has shown that ever since WP Engine filed its lawsuit – making it clear that they do not have an official association with WordPress and attracting greater attention to the company’s poor service, modifications to the WordPress core software, increasing and convoluted pricing structure, and repeated downtimes – their customers have left their platform for other hosting providers. "WP Engine can and always has been able to access the WordPress software and plugins available on WordPress.org, as can anyone." While data about WP Engine websites can be gathered from public sources, it's not clear whether the .csv file of WP Engine websites was obtained from a public source. There's some speculation that the data may have come from non-public WordPress.org access logs rather than DNS queries or a website crawler. *The Register* asked Automattic whether that's the case. We've not heard back. WP Engine declined to comment but *The Register* understands the firm is aware of the tracking website. ®, The New Normal, Thomas Claburn, 01jc9s3ax84fddcevp8y4c4b0t.