WP Engine escalated its Federal complaint by citing Automattic’s publication of the WP Engine Tracker website as evidence of intent to harm WP Engine and exposing customers to potential cybercrimes. The updated complaint incorporates recent actions by Mullenweg to further strengthen their case.
A spokesperson for WP Engine issued a statement to Search Engine Journal about the WP Engine Tracker website:
“Automattic’s wrongful and reckless publication of customer’s information without their consent underscores why we have moved for a preliminary injunction. WP Engine has requested the immediate takedown of this information and looks forward to the November 26th hearing on the injunction.”
Legal Complaint Amended With More Evidence
WP Engine (WPE) 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 their customers. That complaint was amended with further details to support their allegations against Mullenweg and Automattic.
The legal complaint begins by stating in general terms what gives rise to their claim:
“This is a case about abuse of power, extortion, and greed.”
It then grows progressively specific by introducing evidence of how Automattic and Mullenweg continue their “bad acts unabated” for the purpose of harming WP Engine (WPE).
The amended claim adds the following, quoting Mullenweg himself:
“Since then, Defendants have continued to escalate their war, unleashing a campaign to steal WPE’s software, customers and employees. Indeed, just days ago, Defendants were unambiguous about their future plans:”
This is the statement Mullenweg made that is quoted in the amended complaint:
“[S]ince this started [with WPE] they’ve had uh, we estimate tens of thousands of customers leave. . . . So, um you know, I think over the next few weeks, they’re actually gonna lose far more than 8% of their business . . . we’re at war with them. We’re . . . going to go brick by brick and take . . . take every single one of their customers . . . if they weren’t around guess what? . . . We’d happily have those customers, and in fact we’re getting a lot of them.”
WP Engine Tracker Site Used As Evidence
Automattic recently created a website on the WordPressEngineTracker.com domain called WP Engine Tracker that encourages WordPress Engine customers to leave, offering links to promotions that offer discounts and promise a smooth transition to other web hosts.
WPE states that the WP Engine Tracker website is part of a campaign to encourage WPE customers to abandon it, writing:
“Defendants also created a webpage at wordpress.org offering “Promotions and Coupons” to convince WPE customers to stop doing business with WPE and switch over to Automattic’s competitor hosting companies like wordpress.com and Pressable; they later added links to other competitors as well.”
The WordPress Engine Tracker website calls attention to the number of sites that have abandoned WP Engine (WPE) since Matt Mullenweg’s September 21st public denunciation of WP Engine and the start of his “nuclear” war against the web host. The amended Federal lawsuit points to the September 21st date listed on that site as additional evidence tying Automattic to a campaign to harm WP Engine’s business.
The legal document explains: