[ZvG_Bonjwa]

Having sat through this, the main thing that irked me was Matt's lack of empathy towards impacted users.

Every time Theo tried to talk about the negative community impact or the perceived stability of the platform as a whole, Matt forcefully steered the conversation back towards criticising WP Engine.

Matt seems more concerned with retribution towards WP Engine than doing what's right for the WHOLE userbase. It almost doesn't matter how right or wrong he is in his arguments against WP Engine, what worries me is that he is being vindictive in a way that undermines everything he's built.

[tptacek]

That seems understandable, since (according to this video) WPE has apparently been on notice about this for a very long time and has been playing a game of chicken with WordPress.

[ZvG_Bonjwa]

Indeed, and like Theo, I finished the video with little sympathy towards WP Engine. I think Matt's trademark argument is sound.

But as Theo pointed out, the public was not privy to this long running dispute, and Automattic's drastic action came effectively out of nowhere.

Matt seems so preoccupied with this line of thinking (i.e. is WP Engine doing something wrong) and not nearly preoccupied enough with the impact on the Wordpress userbase, the long-term perceptions of the Wordpress brand, and the overall business confidence in Wordpress as a platform. There are ways to balance both, but Matt has chosen not to.

It is clear to me that Matt sees Wordpress as "the foundation" and "the trademark" and "Wordpress.com" and not the 25% of the public internet that uses it.

[wordofx]

LOL if Matt went to court about the trademark it would get laughed out. It’s not sound at all.

[tptacek]

Do you do a lot of trademark litigation work? (I'm asking because there are people on HN who are professionally familiar with this subject.)

[nightowl_games]

I'm also not a lawyer but it also sounds not sound. The "enforcement" of the WordPress trademark is so completely chaotic that it seems clear Matt is just using it as a weapon to extort companies he thinks he's entitled to.

WPEngine may very well be doing something wrong, but WordPress needs a clearer license with which to attack them with

[Brian_K_White]

It's not understandable if there was no valid basis for "on notice" nbthe first place.

"on notice" for what? "on notice" for not doing something you're not obligated to do?

I never once washed your car, despite being on notice about it for 5 years...

[tptacek]

The video explains repeatedly and in detail what WPE was put on notice about. What part of it did you find ambiguous?