{"id":107,"slug":"wp-engine-automattic-dispute-timeline-2024-2026","title":"WP Engine vs Automattic timeline (Sept 2024 → ongoing) — open-source has centralized choke points","kind":"reference","scope":"business","status":"current","audiences":["kevin","claude-code","candid-team"],"topics":["wordpress","platform-lock-in"],"reference_body":"**Claim:** A vendor dispute between WP Engine and Automattic (Matt Mullenweg) demonstrated that even \"open source\" platforms have centralized distribution choke points that can be weaponized.\n\n**Timeline:**\n- **September 2024** — Mullenweg calls WP Engine a \"cancer to WordPress\" at WordCamp US.\n- **October 2, 2024** — WP Engine files suit in U.S. District Court for Northern District of California, Case No. 3:24-cv-06917-AMO.\n- **October 12, 2024** — WordPress.org **forcibly takes over** the Advanced Custom Fields plugin (WP Engine property, **>2 million installs**), renaming it \"Secure Custom Fields\" without WP Engine's consent. See [[acf-scf-forced-fork-october-2024]].\n- **December 10, 2024** — U.S. federal court grants WP Engine **preliminary injunction** ordering Automattic to restore access.\n- **January 10, 2025** — Automattic cuts weekly WordPress core contributions from **3,988 hours to 45 hours** (TechCrunch), matching what Mullenweg said WP Engine contributed.\n- **September 12, 2025** — Court dismisses antitrust/extortion claims but allows defamation, interference, CFAA, and UCL claims to proceed.\n- **October 23, 2025** — Automattic files 162-page counterclaim.\n\n**Sources:** TechCrunch (multiple); The Verge; Courthouse News; Bloomberg Law; PPC.land.\n\n**Confidence:** Verified. Case is in motion through 2026; details should be cited \"as of [date].\"\n\n**Lesson for Candid clients:** WordPress's openness is **real at the code level** (GPL license) and **conditional at the distribution level** (wordpress.org repository, plugin update channels, trademark enforcement). The argument that \"WordPress is safe because it's open source\" is incomplete — the safe part is the code; the unsafe part is the distribution infrastructure. See also [[automattic-blackrock-markdown-67pct-2025]] for the financial signal.","rationale_body":null,"metadata":null,"links":{"outgoing":[{"slug":"wordpress-market-share-2026","title":"WordPress market share (May 2026): 43.2% of web, 60.4% of CMS — peaked at 65.2% in 2022","kind":"reference","scope":"business","link_type":"relates-to"}],"incoming":[{"slug":"acf-scf-forced-fork-october-2024","title":"ACF → SCF forced fork (Oct 12, 2024) — first unilateral plugin takeover in 21-year WordPress history","kind":"reference","scope":"business","link_type":"depends-on"},{"slug":"automattic-blackrock-markdown-67pct-2025","title":"BlackRock marks down Automattic shares 67.4% to $27.74 (June 30, 2025) — financial signal of dispute cost","kind":"reference","scope":"business","link_type":"relates-to"},{"slug":"research-brief-owning-your-stack","title":"Research brief: Owning your stack — why agency-managed platforms cost more than they save (piece 4 of 15)","kind":"reference","scope":"business","link_type":"relates-to"},{"slug":"candid-page-builder-roadmap-stages-1-4","title":"Candid Creative page-builder transition roadmap: 4 stages over 12 months","kind":"reference","scope":"business","link_type":"relates-to"}]},"created_at":"2026-05-22T19:17:26.759Z","updated_at":"2026-05-22T19:17:26.759Z"}