The court has granted WP Engine’s request for a preliminary injunction, arguing that without it, the harm suffered would be irreparable. Automattic countered by asserting that WordPress remains free and open, emphasizing that anyone can continue using it. However, the court’s initial ruling favors WP Engine.
This ruling delivers a significant blow to Automattic, compounding the harm already done to the community and the numerous resignations that the company has faced following this controversy. In summary, the judge has ordered a return to the status quo as of September 20, meaning that all actions taken by Mullenweg against WP Engine must be immediately reversed and maintained until a final, binding decision is reached.
A major initial courtroom defeat for Automattic, which has been staunchly defending its right to give back to the WordPress community as much as it receives. Despite this, much of the community did not support the methods or actions taken by Mullenweg, and now a judge—whose decision ultimately carries weight—has sided with WP Engine.
The court’s ruling is comprehensive: not only must access to WordPress.org for WP Engine be restored, but the Advanced Custom Fields (ACF) plugin must also be reinstated, and a list of WP Engine’s clients must be removed from the wordpressenginetracker.com website.
More details on the scope of the judge’s ruling can be found on Search Engine Land.
Automattic responded on Twitter as follows:
“Today’s ruling is a preliminary order designed to maintain the status quo. It was made without the benefit of discovery, our motion to dismiss, or the counterclaims we will be filing against WP Engine shortly. We look forward to prevailing at trial as we continue to protect the open source ecosystem during full-fact discovery and a full review of the merits”.It is clear they believe they have lost a battle, but not the war.
On the same platform, WP Engine expressed its gratitude with the following statement:
We are grateful that the court has granted our motion for a preliminary injunction that restores access to and functionality of wordpressdotorg for WP Engine, its customers and its users.
“This ruling provides much-needed stability for the WordPress ecosystem. We deeply appreciate our customers for their continued trust and support. We remain committed to serving them and their sites with the performance, availability and integrity they deserve while collaborating to ensure a vigorous, thriving and stable WordPress community”.
The full court resolution is available through this link.
Note: Article originally written in Spanish, translated with ChatGPT, and reviewed in english by Jorge Mediavilla.
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