WordPress.org’s login page demands you pledge loyalty to pineapple pizza

WordPress.org now requires users to affirm that pineapple is delicious on pizza before they can log in. It’s the latest move in an increasingly antagonistic dispute between WordPress co-founder and Automattic CEO Matt Mullenweg and web hosting service WP Engine.

As reported by 404 Media and confirmed by Mashable, WordPress.org‘s login page features a new check box next to the phrase, “Pineapple is delicious on pizza.” Users are currently unable to log in or create a new account unless they tick the box, which was first spotted on Sunday. (WordPress.com remains unaffected.)

The merits of pineapple on pizza has long been the subject of frequently lighthearted internet debate. However, this particular invocation is less jovial. WordPress.org‘s pineapple pizza mandate comes in response to a California District Court decision last Tuesday, which granted WP Engine a preliminary injunction preventing Automattic from blocking its access to WordPress.org.

The injunction also ordered Automattic to remove a check box on WordPress.org‘s login page, which required users to pledge that they were “not affiliated with WP Engine in any way, financially or otherwise.” Users were unable to log in unless this box was ticked.

Yet instead of completely removing the box, it appears Automattic amended it to refer to pineapple on pizza instead.

Credit: Mashable screenshot: WordPress.org

What’s the WordPress drama?

The ongoing WordPress drama is primarily about alleged trademark infringement, with WP Engine and Automattic having been at loggerheads for months now.

1. Blog post from Automattic CEO Matt Mullenweg disparages WP Engine

The dispute publicly kicked off when Mullenweg denounced WP Engine as a “cancer to WordPress” in a blog post on Sept. 21. WP Engine is a third-party web hosting service that specifically caters to websites built using WordPress’ open-source content management system, which is hosted and available via WordPress.org. 

Mullenweg has since been loudly critical of WP Engine, deriding the company for disabling tracked changes, using branding that allegedly infringes on WordPress’ trademark, and contributing little to develop the open-source software.

“[WP Engine] do about half a billion in revenue on top of WordPress and contribute back 40 hours a week, Automattic is a similar size and contributes back 3,915 hours a week,” Mullenweg claimed in his post.

2. WP Engine sends cease-and-desist letter to Automattic

Of course, WP Engine wasn’t pleased with this. The company responded with a cease-and-desist letter on Sept. 23, demanding Automattic and Mullenweg stop making “false factual statements.” 

WP Engine also accused Mullenweg of threatening to take a “scorched earth nuclear approach” toward the company if it refused to pay Automattic to license WordPress’ trademarks. Court documents indicate Automattic demanded eight percent of WP Engine’s revenue to be paid on an ongoing monthly basis.

According to WP Engine, such licensing is unnecessary as its use of WordPress’ trademarks to describe its services are permitted under fair use.

“Mr. Mullenweg’s covert demand that WP Engine hand over tens of millions to his for-profit company Automattic, while publicly masquerading as an altruistic protector of the WordPress community, is disgraceful,” read WP Engine’s letter.

“WP Engine’s uses of those marks to describe its services – as all companies in this space do – are fair uses under settled trademark law and consistent with WordPress’ own guidelines.”

3. Automattic sends cease-and-desist letter to WP Engine, bans it from WordPress

Automattic responded to that with its own cease-and-desist letter also dated Sept. 23, demanding WP Engine “immediately stop all unauthorized use of [WordPress and WordPress-based ecommerce platform WooCommerce] trademarks.” 

Acknowledging that it had contacted WP Engine about licensing the trademarks, Automattic stated that no agreement had been reached, and accused the company of misleading consumers into thinking it is affiliated with WordPress.

The WordPress Foundation’s trademark policy was also amended to specifically call out WP Engine, acknowledging that “WP” is not covered by trademarks but asking that it not be used “in a way that confuses people.”

“For example, many people think WP Engine is ‘WordPress Engine’ and officially associated with WordPress, which it’s not,” the policy reads. “They have never once even donated to the WordPress Foundation, despite making billions of revenue on top of WordPress.”

Mullenweg subsequently announced that WP Engine had been banned from WordPress.org on Sept. 25, breaking numerous websites and preventing updates from being implemented. While it was temporarily lifted two days later, the ban significantly disrupted WP Engine’s ability to do business. 

“[P]ending their legal claims and litigation against WordPress.org, WP Engine no longer has free access to WordPress.org’s resources,” Mullenweg wrote in said announcement.

Expanding further on his personal blog, Mullenweg claimed Automattic’s demand that WP Engine pay up “isn’t a money grab: it’s an expectation that any business making hundreds of millions of dollars off of an open source project ought to give back, and if they don’t, then they can’t use its trademarks,” 

4. WP Engine files lawsuit against Automattic

It was all downhill from there. On Oct. 2, WP Engine filed a lawsuit against Automattic and Mullenweg with a slew of allegations, including libel, slander, attempted extortion, and unfair competition. 

WP Engine also amended its plan names to remove the word “WordPress,” and updated its website to make clear it is “not endorsed or owned by, or affiliated with” the WordPress Foundation or WooCommerce.

“Automattic’s suggestion that WPE needs a license to do that is simply wrong, and reflects a misunderstanding of trademark law,” a WP Engine spokesperson told TechCrunch. “To moot its claimed concerns, we have eliminated the few examples Automattic gave in its September 23rd letter to us.”

In response to the ongoing legal proceedings, Automattic maintains that “WP Engine has never lost the ability to access the WordPress code and plugins on the Website.”

“WP Engine is asking that the court force Matt and Automattic to allow WP Engine to host and distribute their plugins on the WordPress.org website for free in the absence of any obligation requiring them to do so,” Automattic stated.

What does pineapple pizza have to do with the WordPress lawsuit?

All of this brings us back to WordPress.org‘s pineapple pizza pledge.

In early October, Mullenweg amended the WordPress.org login page to add a mandatory check box pledging that users have no affiliation with WP Engine. In a Slack post at the time, Mullenweg stated that this checkbox was part of the ban on WP Engine.

Following the court’s injunction last Tuesday, that box now demands loyalty to the pineapple on pizza agenda instead.

What connection this culinary debate has to the larger legal matter at hand is unclear, assuming it has any at all. Automattic has not made any public statement on the matter, while Mullenweg merely shared a post on X which highlighted the change.

It’s likely that Mullenweg simply took the opportunity to make a joke, regardless of the more serious circumstances surrounding it. Even if it didn’t have bigger fish to fry, it seems improbable that Automattic would follow up with users on their pizza preferences.