They could move their sites over to the WordPress.com, can't they?
Since they offer competing services in the first place.
Since they offer competing services in the first place.
The real competitor in Automattics portfolio is Pressable. Who are currently running a poaching campaign on their frontpage.
"WordPress hosting" is a relatively new option on WordPress.com. Pressable is a more advanced WordPress hosting provider, built by Automattic.
Disclaimer: I work at Automattic.
Personally I also don’t like that the .org suddenly becomes weaponized. If this can be done to WPE, it can be done to anyone else really.
Sure WP also has some freemium model, but I do not consider that shady.
Have you seen the Automattic CEO talk (link to YT in other comment in this thread). I dont think he's in shady business: he's releasing loads of source code under the GPL!
Automattic is releasing source code, which, in my book, is being super friendly to competitors. It seems to me you are holding the good guys (that release under FLOSS licenses) to a higher standard than any other company that keeps the source to them selves.
https://cdn-images-1.medium.com/v2/resize:fit:800/1*OVEEYB4H...
WordPress is a GPL project.
services (like the plugin registry, but there are many more) cannot be GPL. they are served by someone and that someone pays for hosting/bandwidth/etc and that someone is free to stop providing that service (to one party or all together).
WPE is essentially DDOSing WP for free. Obviously that shit doesn't fly. Either pay up or get your own server and host your own shit.
If any one of us was hosting a FREE service and some corporation came around and hit us with hundreds of thousands of requests, we too would demand money or ban them. Any one of us. So I really, truly, don't understand why we're all sitting here having this conversation.