WordPress.org adds a checkbox to confirm users aren't “affiliated with WP Engine in any way, financially or otherwise” before they log in or register an account
WordPress.org users are now required to agree that they are not affiliated with website hosting platform WP Engine before logging in.
404 MediaSamantha Cole
Context & Ripple Effects
The account requirement extends a dispute that had already cut WP Engine off from free WordPress.org access, shifting the conflict from service access toward participation in the project’s own infrastructure. The earlier access cutoff made WP Engine’s customers and support channels a central point of friction.
It also lands after Mullenweg described WordPress.org as personally owned, while a proposed trademark arrangement reportedly sought a share of WP Engine revenue. That ownership assertion sharpened concerns that WordPress.org, the Foundation and Automattic were not cleanly separated in the dispute.
First-order effects
WP Engine-affiliated people who want to log in or create a WordPress.org account must now make an affirmation they cannot truthfully provide, creating an immediate participation barrier.
WordPress.org turns account access into an affiliation screen, broadening the practical impact of its earlier restriction on WP Engine access.
Second-order effects
The screen may strengthen WP Engine’s argument for court intervention over blocked WordPress.org access by adding an account-level restriction to the dispute over repository access.
Plugin developers, hosts and contributors tied to WP Engine face added uncertainty over whether their relationship with the company affects access to shared project infrastructure.
Third-order effects
If this approach persists, control of open-source project infrastructure can become a more direct bargaining tool in commercial and trademark conflicts, even when the affected users are not the company in dispute.
The episode increases pressure for clearer governance boundaries between a project’s public-facing infrastructure, its trademark authority and commercial participants; the reported proposed trademark-revenue terms make those boundaries especially consequential.
The trend: This is one data point in the broader trend of platform gatekeepers using identity and access controls to extend commercial disputes into the communities built around shared infrastructure.
New: the WordPress community “is in chaos.” https://wordpress.org/ now requires users to agree they are not affiliated with the hosting platform WP Engine before logging in. “WordPress community is in chaos. People don't know where they stand legally” https://www.404media.co/...
“...Whatever Matt's end goal is, his ‘tactics,’ especially this legally and ethically ambiguous checkbox, are causing a lot of confusion and mental anguish to people around the world.” https://www.404media.co/...
Automattic CEO Matt Mullenweg added a dubious checkbox to the WordPress org login today, dragging the open-source community into the middle of a very messy beef https://www.404media.co/...
People are asking me what the 🤬 is going on with WordPress. Here's a decent and up-to-date primer from @samleecole on @404mediaco (hosted on @ghost). Just to be absolutely clear, I'm not the “anonymous source” here. https://www.404media.co/...
@dhh I'm a huge believer in open source and the GPL and I've never modified any projects I'm involved with in 21 years to have a more restrictive license.
They went to retain WordPress' shine of open source, but also be able to extract their pound of flesh from any competitor that might appear, whenever they see fit. Screw that.
@photomatt I'd love to see that spirit prevail in this dispute. Accepting the lack of patches as a valid option under the license terms. We don't have to capture every potential contributor to prosper. The GPL is restrictive enough without the shadow terms on top.
“That's the deal. That's open source. I give you a gift of code, you accept the terms of the license. There cannot be a second set of shadow obligations that might suddenly apply, if you strike it rich using the software. Then the license is meaningless.” https://world.hey.com/..…
If Matt won't listen to the WordPress community, hopefully he can listen to a peer who also started a massive and successful open source project. This has implications across the fabric of technology and open source.
Open source software represents a vibrant, global community where code is not just written, but shared, scrutinized, and improved upon by an extensive network of developers worldwide. Open source isn't just about free code; it's about building communities where ideas flourish.
@dhh Thank you for writing about this! I'm sorry if our messaging made you think this about the GPL — I have no issue with their use of GPL code. It's specifically about their misuse of the “WordPress” and “WooCommerce” trademarks. Happy to hop on a call and explain more! Huge fa…
these kinds of things have impacts - big company legal teams are quite annoying and hyper-sensitive they already scrutinize everything and create lists of “risks” - we don't need to be giving them more ammo so they can tell people they can't use OSS