Matt Mullenweg Announces Temporary Lifting of WP Engine Ban

Matt Mullenweg has announced that the restrictions on WP Engine will be temporarily lifted until October 1, 00:00 UTC, allowing them to access WordPress servers. WP Engine was banned on September 25 from utilizing any WordPress.org resources following legal actions related to trademark disputes, which left WP Engine customers unable to access the Plugin/Theme directory or update their websites

The temporary reprieve gives WP Engine time to “spin up their mirrors of all WordPress.org’s resources that they were using for free while not paying and making legal threats against us.”, according to the official statement.

The announcement post blamed WP Engine for the situation: “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. Heather Brunner, Lee Wittlinger, and their Board chose to take this risk. WPE was also aware that they were placing this risk directly on WPE customers. You could assume that WPE has a workaround ready, or they were simply reckless in supporting their customers. Silver Lake and WP Engine put their customers at risk, not me.”

I see https://t.co/FwFPhIHs7i is still showing issues.

We've removed all network blocks so anything they've having trouble with is a result of their own work.
— Matt Mullenweg (@photomatt) September 27, 2024

Matt tweeted, “We’ve removed all network blocks so anything they’ve having trouble with is a result of their own work.” In another tweet, he clarified, “Silver Lake is the only entity we have beef with.” During the WP Minute live stream, Matt reiterated that the WP Engine situation was uniquely bad and that he doesn’t foresee this happening again with any other hosting provider.

That's not true, every other WP host in the world has been just fine through this. Silver Lake is the only entity we have beef with.
— Matt Mullenweg (@photomatt) September 27, 2024

On the same livestream, Matt was asked by Brian Coords about allowing WP Engine users more time to transition to new hosts. Matt acknowledged the suggestion, admitting it was a valid point.

WP Engine tweeted: “We’re pleased to see access restored to the repository of WordPress plugins for our customers who operate their sites with us at WP Engine.”

We’re pleased to see access restored to the repository of WordPress plugins for our customers who operate their sites with us at WP Engine.
— WP Engine (@wpengine) September 27, 2024

The community remains divided—some support the decision, while others are less impressed.

While the reprieve is a temporary solution, it remains to be seen how the situation will unfold in the long run.