WP Engine said the lawsuit aims to address abuse of power, extortion, and greed." | Image: Cath Virginia / The Verge The WP Engine web hosting service is suing WordPress co-founder Matt Mullenweg and Automattic for alleged libel and attempted extortion, following a public spat over the WordPress trademark and open-source project. In the federal lawsuit filed on Wednesday, WP Engine accuses both Automattic and its CEO Mullenweg of abuse of power, extortion, and greed," and said it seeks to prevent them from inflicting further harm against WP Engine and the WordPress community.WP Engine is a major rival to WordPress.com, with more than 200,000 websites using the service. Mullenweg runs Automattic, which owns WordPress.com, a company that sells a hosted version of the open-source WordPress software - just like WP Engine.The lawsuit was initiated after... Continue reading...

Image: Cath Virginia / The Verge WordPress and its cofounder Matt Mullenweg are embroiled in a public battle against the third-party hosting provider WP Engine. Continue reading...

Image: Cath Virginia / The Verge Automattic CEO Matt Mullenweg offered a second buyout round to employees who don't agree with his actions, according to a report from 404 Media. In a message to employees seen by the outlet, Mullenweg gave employees until October 17th to decide whether they would resign in exchange for nine months of pay.New alignment offer: I guess some people were sad they missed the last window. Some have been leaking to the press and ex-employees," Mullenweg wrote in the message seen by 404 Media. You have until 00:00 UTC Oct 17 (-4 hours) to DM me the words, I resign and would like to take the 9-month buy-out offer' You don't have to say any reason, or anything else. I will reply Thank you.' Automattic will accept your resignation."Earlier... Continue reading...