WordPress.org blocked hosting provider WP Engine earlier this week, but has lifted the ban until October 1st. This block prevented several sites from updating their plugins and themes, exposing them to potential security risks.
WordPress co-founder Matt Mullenweg has been in a battle with WP Engine for over a week, blaming WP Engine's private equity investor Silver Lake.
“We have heard from WP Engine customers who are frustrated that WP Engine does not allow updates, plugin directories, theme directories, and Openverse to work on their sites. It's sad to see this negatively affected,” Mullenweg said on the WordPress.org blog.
“WP Engine is fully aware that we may be able to remove your access if you choose to enter into a commercial license agreement in disregard of our efforts to resolve the differences. Heather Brunner, Lee Wittlinger, and their Board of Directors also recognized that they were passing this risk directly to WPE's customers. ” he added.
After Mullenweg banned WP Engine from accessing WordPress.org resources, many people in the WordPress community criticized the sudden move, which affected several websites.
Last week, Mullenweg called WP Engine a “cancer on WordPress” and accused it of lacking in contributions to the WordPress ecosystem. WP Engine sent cease-and-desist letters to Automattic and Mullenweg, which own WordPress.com and hold the exclusive commercial license to the WordPress trademark, to retract these comments. In response, Automattic also sent a cease-and-desist letter to WP Engine accusing it of trademark infringement.
Since WordPress technology is open source, free, and powers a huge portion of the internet (approximately 40% of websites), this battle affects the larger ecosystem. Websites can host their own WordPress instance or use a provider like Automattic or WP Engine for a plug-and-play solution.
Over the past few days, Mullenweg has said his fight is against WP Engine and is primarily about trademarks. But the entire WordPress community is worried about how they can use WordPress in their services and whether Automattic or Mullenweg will come after them.
The WordPress Foundation, which owns the WordPress trademark, filed for two new trademarks in July: “Managed WordPress” and “Hosted WordPress.” Developers and providers are concerned that these trademarks could be infringed if granted.