WordPress grants WP Engine "reprieve" - but they'll need to be quick

WP Engine users gets temporary access to WordPress servers

· TechRadar

News By Craig Hale published 30 September 2024

Image credit: Shutterstock (Image credit: Shutterstock)

The battle between Automattic CEO Matt Mullenweg and WP Engine, a WordPress hosting provider, continues in full swing, but the former is cutting the latter, and its customers, a very brief moment of slack.

"We have lifted the blocks of their servers from accessing ours, until October 1, UTC 00:00. Hopefully this helps them spin up their mirrors of all of WordPress.org’s resources that they were using for free while not paying, and making legal threats against us", Mullenweg wrote on WordPress.org's blog.

A little over a week ago, Mullenweg likened WP Engine to a “cancer” for the way it benefitted from the open source WordPress project without giving back sufficiently. The disruptions subsequently left WP Engine customers uncertain about access to update tools, but Mullenweg is now giving them a short period to resolve potential issues.

Mullenweg gives WP Engine users temporary access

A little over a week ago, Mullenweg likened WP Engine to a “cancer” for the way it benefitted from the open source WordPress project without giving back sufficiently.

The disruptions subsequently left WP Engine customers uncertain about access to update tools, but Mullenweg is now giving them a short period to resolve potential issues.

In a brief note, Mullenweg criticizes WP Engine for promising “Unmatched performance, automated updates, and bulletproof security ensure your sites thrive” – arguing the company has since failed to provide.

“WP Engine was well aware that we could remove access when they chose to ignore our efforts to resolve our differences and enter into a commercial licensing agreement,” he added

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