WP Engine escalates legal battle with Automattic and Mullenweg

WP Engine strengthened its federal complaint, citing Automattic’s post WP Engine Tracker website as evidence of intent to harm WP Engine and expose customers to potential cybercrime. The updated complaint includes recent actions taken by Mullenweg to further strengthen its position.

A WP Engine representative released a statement to Search Engine Journal about the WP Engine Tracker website:

“Automattic’s wrongful and reckless release of customer information without their consent underscores why we sought the preliminary injunction. WP Engine has requested the immediate removal of this information and looks forward to an injunction hearing on November 26.”

The legal complaint is supplemented with additional evidence

WP Engine (WPE) has filed a complaint in Federal Court seeking a preliminary injunction to prevent Matt Mullenweg and Automattic from continuing actions that harm WPE’s business and their relationships with customers. This complaint has been supplemented with additional details to support the allegations against Mullenweg and Automattic.

The legal complaint begins with an indication in general conditions which is the basis for their claim:

“This is a case of abuse of power, extortion and greed.”

He then gets more and more specific, introducing evidence of how Automattic and Mullenweg are continuing their “continuous malpractice” to harm WP Engine (WPE).

The amended claim adds the following, quoting Mullenweg himself:

“Since then, the Defendants have continued to escalate their war, unleashing a campaign to steal WPE’s software, customers and employees. Indeed, only a few days ago, the defendants were clear about their future plans:

This is Mullenweg’s statement as quoted in the amended complaint:

“Since it started (with WPE), we estimate that tens of thousands of customers have left them. . . . So, you know, I think they’re actually going to lose a lot more than 8% of their business over the next couple of weeks. . . we are at war with them. We . . going to go brick by brick and take . . . to receive each of their customers. . . if they weren’t around, guess what? . . . We would love to have such clients, and in fact we have many of them.”

The WP Engine Tracker site is used as proof

Automattic recently created a website on the WordPressEngineTracker.com domain called WP Engine Tracker that encourages WordPress Engine customers to leave the site by offering links to promotions that offer discounts and promise a smooth transition to other web hosts.

WPE claims the WP Engine Tracker website is part of a campaign to encourage WPE customers to opt out, writing:

“Defendants also created a web page on wordpress.org offering ‘Promotions and Coupons’ to persuade WPE’s customers to stop doing business with WPE and switch to Automattic’s competing hosting companies, such as wordpress.com and Pressable; later they also added links to other competitors.”

The website WordPress Engine Tracker notes the number of sites that have abandoned WP Engine (WPE) after Matt Mullenweg publicly denounced WP Engine on September 21st and launched his “nuclear” war against web hosting. The amended federal complaint points to the September 21st date listed on the site as further evidence linking Automattic to a campaign to harm WP Engine’s business.

The legal document explains:

“Just last week, in an apparent attempt to brag about how successful they have been in harming WPE, Defendants created a website — www.wordpressenginetracker.com — with a “list(s) . . . of every domain hosted on @wpengine, the number of which is decreasing daily. Since September 21, 15,080 sites have already gone.

September 21 was not chosen by chance. This is the day after the start of the Defendants’ self-proclaimed nuclear war – an admission that these customer losses were caused by the Defendants’ wrongdoing. In this extraordinary attack on WPE and its customers, the defendants placed on their disparaging website a downloadable file “all (WPE) sites ready for a new home”, i.e. a list of WPE’s customers, literally inviting others to target and harass WPE’s customers their. Attacks by the accused on WPE continued…”

The purpose of the above allegations is to create as much evidence as possible to support WP Engine’s claim that Automattic is actively trying to harm WP Engine’s business.

WPE accuses Automattic of collateral damage

Another new allegation against Automattic is that a spreadsheet offered for download on the WP Engine Tracker website contains sensitive information that is not publicly available and could directly harm WPE customers.

The amended federal complaint explains:

“Worse, this downloadable file contains sensitive information about domain names of WPE customers, including development, test and pre-production servers, many of which are not intended for public access and contain sensitive or private information. Many of these servers are intentionally not indexed or otherwise included in public search results because the servers are not secure, secure, or production-ready and are not intended for public access.

By disclosing this information to the general public, Defendants expose these development, testing and pre-production domains to the risk of hacking and unauthorized access.”

The WP Engine Tracker site is part of a larger strategy

WPE’s amended complaint alleges that the WP Engine Tracker site is part of a larger strategy to harm WP Engine’s business, which includes encouraging WPE employees to quit. The legal document adds new information about how the WP Engine Tracker website is just part of a larger strategy to harm WPE’s business.

The updated document adds the following new allegations as proof of WPE’s claims:

“Not content with meddling with WPE’s customers, Automattic has recently stepped up its tactics, actively recruiting hundreds of WPE employees in an apparent attempt to weaken WPE, cast doubt on the company’s future, and encourage WPE employees to join Automattic:”

The document includes a screenshot of an email solicitation sent to an employee encouraging them to join Automattic.

A screenshot of the evidence presented in the amended complaint

Escalation of a federal complaint

WP Engine’s amended complaint against Mullenweg and Automattic cites the Sherman Act (which prohibits monopolization to maintain a competitive market), the Langham Act (which governs trademarks, false advertising, and unfair competition), and the Computer Fraud and Abuse Act (which deals with unauthorized access to computer and cybercrime). The amendments link recent actions by Mullenweg and Automattic, such as the creation of the WP Engine Tracker website, directly to their claims, turning Mullenweg’s attacks on WP Engine into evidence.

Read the amended federal complaint here: (PDF).

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