Former child star Demi Lovato joined California Governor Gavin Newsom as he signed two bills that financially protect child influencers and content creators (Katie Kilkenny/The Hollywood Reporter)

Mediagazer: Former child star Demi Lovato joined California Governor Gavin Newsom as he signed two bills that financially protect child influencers and content creators (Katie Kilkenny/The Hollywood Reporter)

Top News:

Deadline:

Newsmax and election systems company Smartmatic reach a confidential settlement that averts Smartmatic's defamation lawsuit over 2020 election lies— Newsmax has reached a settlement with election systems company Smartmatic, averting a defamation trial that was set to start next week.
Discussion: Axios, Washington Post, CNN, Mediaite, CNN, Adweek, The Desk, @katie_robertson, NPR, Radio & Television …, The Wrap, Forbes, New York Times, The Guardian, Los Angeles Times, The Hill, TVNewsCheck, CNN, New York Daily News, CBS News, Associated Press, Reuters, Media Matters for America, @jswatz_tx@threads.net, The Daily Beast, Barrett Media, Advanced Television and ABC7

Discussion:

Sara Fischer /
Axios: Newsmax, Smartmatic settle defamation lawsuit

Jeremy Barr /
Washington Post: Smartmatic and Newsmax settle defamation case involving 2020 election

Marshall Cohen /
CNN: Newsmax faces ‘bet-your-company’ defamation trial over 2020 election lies

Ethan Alter /
Adweek: Newsmax and Smartmatic Settle Defamation Case

Katie Robertson /
@katie_robertson: Smartmatic and Newsmax settled for an undisclosed amount today, as a jury was being selected for trial. Smartmatic settled a similar case against OANN earlier this year. They still have a pending case against Fox. https://www.nytimes.com/...

Josh Dickey /
The Wrap: Newsmax Settles Smartmatic Defamation Suit One Week Before Trial Opening Statements

Alison Durkee /
Forbes: Smartmatic Settles With Newsmax: Here's Where It And Dominion's Other Lawsuits Stand

Katie Robertson /
New York Times: Newsmax and Smartmatic Settle Defamation Case Over 2020 Election

Stephen Battaglio /
Los Angeles Times: Right wing network Newsmax settles defamation lawsuit with Smartmatic

Dominick Mastrangelo /
The Hill: Newsmax settles with Smartmatic days ahead of trial

Ted Johnson /
TVNewsCheck: Newsmax Settles Smartmatic Defamation Lawsuit, Averting Trial Over 2020 Election Rigging Claims CBS News: Voting technology firm Smartmatic and Newsmax reach settlement in 2020 election defamation case Associated Press: Voting technology firm, conservative outlet reach settlement in 2020 election defamation case

Tom Hals /
Reuters: Smartmatic has settled its defamation case against Newsmax, according to court official

Lily Mae Lazarus /
The Daily Beast: Newsmax Settles Defamation Case With 2020 Election Firm on Eve of Trial

New York Times:

Sources: CNN will begin experimenting in early October with a metered paywall, charging some readers for digital access after they read a set number of articles— CNN will begin experimenting in October with a subscription model, in a major initiative from its chief executive, Mark Thompson.

Discussion:

Ben Mullin /
@benmullin: scoop: Mark Thompson's team at CNN will launch its paywall in early October. It's one of Mark Thompson's first major business initiatives. The plan is to launch a metered paywall at a low price point and see how readers react: https://www.nytimes.com/...

Josh Dickey /
The Wrap: CNN Plans to Paywall News Content Starting Next Month

Dylan Byers /
@dylanbyers: I think I've reported this at least six times in the last three months... https://www.nytimes.com/... via @NYTimes

Dan Kennedy /
@dankennedy_nu@threads.net: Granted, cable's dying, but let's not overlook the fact that CNN is already getting an enormous amount of money from cable subscribers who are forced to pay whether they want it or not. CNN-dot-com is also giving up its main strength as a free source of quality news at a time when the best news outlets are charging for their journalism. …

Paul Wiggins /
@paulwiggins: @BenMullin I wouldn't subscribe as a standalone package because it's too Democrat v Republican focused. Other factors that affect outcomes get scant attention. My view on this also applies to cable news rivals in the US.

Kali Hays /
@kalihays1@threads.net: Even more paywalls are coming, cnn won't be the only one. Fair warning to all of you who love to comment “ugh paywall” “can't read paywall” “paywall can someone post a free link” gonna need you to direct your sense of injustice to the major tech companies (which have also all erected their own type of walled gardens over the last year or so)

Josh Dickey /
TVNewsCheck: CNN Plans To Paywall News Content Starting Next Month

The Hollywood Reporter:

Former child star Demi Lovato joined California Governor Gavin Newsom as he signed two bills that financially protect child influencers and content creators— Former child star Demi Lovato joined the California governor on Thursday as he greenlit legislation that expands the Coogan Law …

Discussion:
The Wrap, Governor of California, Billboard, Rolling Stone, NBC News, Maria J Da Mata Mulero on LinkedIn, @kayreneeesq, ABC7, Mashable, DNyuz and KSTP-TV

Discussion:

Sharon Knolle /
The Wrap: Demi Lovato Meets With Gavin Newsom as He Signs Legislation to Protect Child Influencers

Elanaross /
Governor of California: Governor Newsom joins Demi Lovato to sign legislation to protect the financial security of child influencers

Rania Aniftos /
Billboard: Demi Lovato Joins Governor Gavin Newsom to Sign Legislation to Protect Child Influencers' Financial Security

Ethan Millman /
Rolling Stone: Demi Lovato Champions Signed Law to Protect Child Influencers From Financial Abuse

Daysia Tolentino /
NBC News: California enacts laws to protect child influencers' financial security Maria J Da Mata Mulero on LinkedIn: Great news. This is so important in this digital and social media age. @kayreneeesq: This is a good start. Hope for even more protection from exploitative parents Newsom signs bill requiring compensation for child influencers. https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/ ...

David González /
ABC7: New California laws protect ‘child influencers’ from financial abuse

Chase DiBenedetto /
Mashable: Child ‘content creators’ granted protections in California by Gov. Newsom

The Hollywood Reporter:

CNN won 11 awards in the 2024 News & Documentary Emmy Awards, ABC News won eight including three credited to Hulu, and National Geographic won five— The awards were handed out at the Palladium Times Square in New York City on Wednesday. — CNN, ABC and National Geographic are among …

Discussion:
Variety, Barrett Media, CNN, Deadline, TVNewsCheck and GoldDerby

Discussion:

Michael Schneider /
Variety: 'It's Bisan From Gaza and I'm Still Alive' Wins News & Doc Emmy Despite Calls For Its Disqualification; Big Winners Include CNN, ABC, Nat Geo

Carly Thomas /
TVNewsCheck: ABC, CNN & National Geographic Among Top Winners At News Emmys, Night One

Daniel Montgomery /
GoldDerby: 2024 News and Documentary Emmy winners list: The best in nonfiction media awarded on September 25-26

RELATED:
The Wrap: Palestinian journalist Bisan Atef Owda wins the Emmy for Outstanding Hard News Feature: Short Form, after the Academy rejected a push to rescind her nomination

Variety:

AI company Runway launches The Hundred Film Fund, offering grants of $5,000 to $1M for 100 short films and feature-length movies that use generative AI— Runway is launching The Hundred Film Fund, an initiative to help produce and fund as many as 100 short films and feature-length movies …

Discussion:

Cristóbal Valenzuela /
Runway: Runway launches fund to provide artists resources to make one hundred films

Erik Hayden /
The Hollywood Reporter: After Inking Studio Deal, Tech Firm Says It Will Fund Moviemakers If They Use Its AI Tools

Fifi Lamoura /
@fifilamoura@eldritch.cafe: @Mediagazer Gross. @YakyuNightOwl@mastodon.world: @Mediagazer Have the robot herders considered helping minorities before the robots? — Maybe they look more like the robots, so they can't relate to the real human filmmakers. @dfwsam.bsky.social: I have to wonder, what'll the average energy cost & thermal output be, for short film vs feature length? Possibly by genre, if it catches on.

The Information:

Source: Amazon exceeded its goal of $1.8B in ad-spending commitments for its video-streaming offerings, including Thursday Night Football, in the coming year— Amazon's decision to introduce ads within its Prime Video streaming service is already paying off for the company.

Discussion:
The Wrap, Reuters, Deadline and Adweek, more at Techmeme »

Discussion:

Juby Babu /
Reuters: Amazon tops $1.8 bln ad-spending commitment target for video-streaming services, The Information reports

Bill Bradley /
Adweek: Here's What Buyers Really Thought of the 2024 Upfront

New York Times:

Sources: ESPN lays off NBA senior writer Zach Lowe as part of continuing cost cutting; his salary, in excess of seven figures annually, was the biggest factor— ESPN has parted ways with NBA senior writer Zach Lowe as part of the network's continuing layoffs, sources briefed on the decision told The Athletic on Thursday.

Discussion:
Washington Post, Deadline, Mediaite, @marcatracy, New Jersey Online, Awful Announcing, @yourmandevine, @philiprr_omd, @howelloneill.bsky.social, @waldersports, UPROXX, @tyler_greever, @fmaddennba, Sports Media Watch, @sherman4949, @johnjf125, Front Office Sports, Barrett Media and USA Today

Discussion:

Ben Strauss /
Washington Post: Zach Lowe, star NBA journalist, laid off by ESPN

Ahmad Austin Jr /
Mediaite: Top NBA Writer Zach Lowe Let Go From ESPN as Layoffs Continue: Report

Marc Tracy /
@marcatracy: I'm just a country NBA fan and ex-media reporter, but ... I think Lowe operated wonderfully as a sort of loss leader in front of the paywall, helping all of us be better NBA fans —> consuming more ESPN, and was less of a fit behind that specific paywall https://x.com/...

Jimmy Hascup /
New Jersey Online: ESPN layoffs continue with shocker: ‘This move is tough to figure out’

Dan Devine /
@yourmandevine: If this is true, it is galactically stupid.

Philip Rossman-Reich /
@philiprr_omd: Zach Lowe is what we all should want our NBA coverage to be. Endlessly curious about every facet of the league and smart about teaching why it's so fascinating. He is also a genuinely great guy from the few interactions I've had with him. He's the model for NBA coverage.

Patrick Howell O'Neill /
@howelloneill.bsky.social: please put a trigger warning on that salary for journalists working on anything but sports [embedded post]

Chris Walder /
@waldersports: ESPN doesn't want knowledgable, sensible personalities. They want loud, obnoxious, hot take artists who can gain traction on social media. This is ridiculous. Zach Lowe is one of the best basketball writers on the planet.

Robby Kalland /
UPROXX: ESPN Laid Off Zach Lowe In Latest Shakeup To Their NBA Coverage

Tyler Greever /
@tyler_greever: Coupling this with Woj retiring is one hell of a way to get people amped up for your NBA coverage.

Frank Madden /
@fmaddennba: I'm sorry WHAT??????? Woj retires and ESPN responds by laying off the single best writer/analyst/podcaster in the NBA universe? Good lord what a clown show.

Alex Sherman /
@sherman4949: Tectonic shift in ESPN's NBA coverage in the past week.

John Fleming /
@johnjf125: I'm sure he'll go to The Athletic or The Ringer in a heartbeat, but is ESPN really this invested in spending half their payroll to have Pat McAfee run around shirtless and Stephen A. Smith yell directly at the New York Knicks?

Michael McCarthy /
Front Office Sports: NBA Insider Shams Charania Drawing Interest From NBC, Amazon

Charles Curtis /
USA Today: ESPN lays off Zach Lowe, beloved NBA analyst: What we know

New York Times:

Hoda Kotb plans to leave NBC's Today early next year but will remain an occasional contributor to NBC; her exit will create two vacancies in the Today franchise— Her exit, planned for early next year, is a seismic shift for NBC and opens up a pair of morning TV's most coveted anchor chairs.

Discussion:
TODAY.com, @todayshow, Steve Dantas on LinkedIn, AV Club, @bristei, @brianstelter, @grynbaum, Los Angeles Times, Vanity Fair, Adweek, Axios, @drewkerr, Barbara Palmer on LinkedIn, DNyuz, @davidaxelrod, Hollywood Life, Us Weekly, Rachel Kay on LinkedIn, Page Six, @tusk81@mastodon.social, The Hill, HuffPost, TVLine, WWL-TV, CNN, Mediaite, Deadline, Next TV, TODAY.com, Variety, WRBL-TV, New York Daily News, Fox News, E! Online, Forbes, The Daily Beast, KFOR-TV, Extra and TV Insider

Discussion:

Steve Dantas /
Steve Dantas on LinkedIn: As Hoda Kotb recently announced her decision to exit NBC News' Today show following a period of reflection before her 60th birthday, her words resonate with me: …

Drew Gillis /
AV Club: Hoda Kotb is saying goodbye to Today

Brian Steinberg /
@bristei: Hoda Kotb to exit ‘Today’ at year end, opening two critical anchor slots for NBC News morning franchise https://variety.com/...

Brian Stelter /
@brianstelter: After 26 years at NBC, @TodayShow co-host Hoda Kotb is retiring. She is announcing her decision on air now.

Michael M. Grynbaum /
@grynbaum: NEW: Hoda Kotb is leaving the @TODAYshow after 17 years. “I have a time pie in front of me,” she tells @nytimes, “and I think my kids deserve a bigger slice of that pie.” https://www.nytimes.com/...

Stephen Battaglio /
Los Angeles Times: Hoda Kotb is leaving NBC's ‘Today’ early next year

Savannah Walsh /
Vanity Fair: Hoda Kotb Announces Exit From Today Show: “Time For Me to Turn the Page”

Ethan Alter /
Adweek: Watch Hoda Kotb Announce Her Today Departure

Sara Fischer /
Axios: NBC “Today” show anchor Hoda Kotb to depart in early 2025

Drew Kerr /
@drewkerr: Eric Adams must be relieved the Hoda Kotb departure news literally took the media spotlight off him for the time being.

Barbara Palmer /
Barbara Palmer on LinkedIn: hoda kotb announced she will be stepping down from her anchoring duties at the Today Show at the beginning of the year to focus on her two daughters. …

David Axelrod /
@davidaxelrod: It's always impressive when someone walks away from the spotlight at the peak of their power and popularity because they know it's time for something new—for them, and their family. Good for you, ⁦@hodakotb⁩! https://www.nytimes.com/... via @NYTimes

Elisabeth McGowan /
Hollywood Life: Is Hoda Kotb Leaving ‘Today’? Where She's Going After the Show

Rachel Kay /
Rachel Kay on LinkedIn: Bittersweet news learning one of my favorite women in broadcast news is stepping down in 2025. — I watch the Today Show every day and Hoda Kotb … @tusk81@mastodon.social: “Hoda Kotb, whose megawatt smile and convivial presence have greeted groggy-eyed viewers of NBC's ‘Today’ show for the past 17 years, said on Thursday that she would step down from her hosting duties early next year.” — https://www.nytimes.com/...

Dominick Mastrangelo /
The Hill: Hoda Kotb leaving NBC's ‘Today’ show

Marita Vlachou /
HuffPost: Hoda Kotb To Leave NBC's ‘Today’ Show Next Year

Rebecca Iannucci /
TVLine: Hoda Kotb to Exit NBC's Today — Watch Her Emotional Announcement

Andrew Weil /
WWL-TV: Hoda Kotb leaving NBC's ‘Today’ show

Jordan Valinsky /
CNN: Hoda Kotb is leaving NBC's ‘Today’

Jamie Frevele /
Mediaite: JUST IN: Hoda Kotb Announces She's Leaving NBC's TODAY Show

Ted Johnson /
Deadline: Hoda Kotb To Depart ‘Today’ Early Next Year

Michael Malone /
Next TV: Hoda Kotb To Step Down From ‘Today’ Co-Anchor Post

Brian Steinberg /
Variety: Hoda Kotb to Exit NBC's ‘Today’ in Early 2025

Jessica Yakubovsky /
WRBL-TV: Hoda Kotb announces departure from Today show, “I know I'm making the right decision” Fox News: NBC's Hoda Kotb announces she will exit flagship ‘Today’ early next year: Time to ‘move on’

Rachel McRady /
E! Online: Hoda Kotb Shares Why She's Leaving Today After More a Decade

Mary Whitfill Roeloffs /
Forbes: Longtime Host Hoda Kotb Says She's Leaving ‘Today’ Show

Dan Ladden-Hall /
The Daily Beast: Hoda Kotb Is Leaving NBC's ‘Today’: ‘The Right Decision’

Meaghan Darwish /
TV Insider: ‘Today’ Show: Who Will Replace Hoda Kotb?

The Verge:

X is blocking links to Ken Klippenstein's newsletter with a hacked JD Vance dossier and suspended Klippenstein's X account for posting Vance's private info— X is preventing users from posting links to a newsletter containing a hacked document that's alleged to be the Trump campaign's research …

Discussion:
@pkafka@threads.net, DNyuz, @newrepublic@threads.net, Mediaite, New Republic, Engadget, Ken Klippenstein, The Hill, @Cyberpreppy@mastodon.social, @alibreland, @oremus.bsky.social, @hn50@social.lansky.name, @jessicalburbank, @leahmcelrath, @emptywheel, @leahmcelrath, @rmac18, @alibreland, Elizabeth Lopatto on LinkedIn, @leahmcelrath, @rmac18, @davekarpf.bsky.social, @BackFromTheDud@mas.to, @davekarpf.bsky.social, @passantino@threads.net, @mmasnick.bsky.social, @digiphile@mastodon.social, @thezedwards, @justinbaragona, @omimesis@mastodon.social, @leahmcelrath and Hacker News, more at Techmeme »

Discussion:

Peter Kafka /
@pkafka@threads.net: For those asking: This is not the same as the Biden laptop story. But it does have echoes: Twitter (and others, including Facebook), *thought* the laptop story could have been a hack and leak, with good reason. But no evidence ever emerged that it was, and Jack Dorsey subsequently apologized for banning links to the NY Post story that used the material. … @newrepublic@threads.net: Independent journalist Ken Klippenstein was suspended from X shortly after sharing a leaked dossier on Republican vice presidential nominee J.D. Vance. https://newrepublic.com/...

Phillip Nieto /
Mediaite: Journalist Ken Klippenstein Suspended By X After Publishing Hacked JD Vance Dossier

Danny Gallagher /
Engadget: X suspends journalist Ken Klippenstein after he published J.D. Vance dossier

Julia Shapero /
The Hill: Journalist booted from X after publishing hacked Vance document

Adrian Randall /
@Cyberpreppy@mastodon.social: It's Elon Musk's personal website. He owns it 100%. He can do whatever he wants with it. And he will never, ever let you use it in a way that threatens him or his allies. — https://www.theverge.com/...

Ali Breland /
@alibreland: got temporarily locked out of twitter for posting about the jd vance dossier with a screenshot from his investments portion. it's not “private information” anymore [image]

Will Oremus /
@oremus.bsky.social: ingenious move by musk to go ham on the vance dossier while all the content moderation experts are locked up at a stanford trust and safety conference [embedded post] @hn50@social.lansky.name: X (Twitter) blocks links to hacked JD Vance dossier — Link: https://www.theverge.com/... Discussion: https://news.ycombinator.com/ ... #twitter @jessicalburbank: This is what happens when I try to click on @kenklippenstein's link to the JD Vance Dossier piece. Elon Musk, big free speech guy! [image]

Leah McElrath /
@leahmcelrath: Musk also locked Ken's attorney's account: @emptywheel: Hey @elonmusk: Did you just suspend @kenklippenstein bc you like JD Vance more than Hunter Biden?

Leah McElrath /
@leahmcelrath: The TOS are whatever Musk says they are, essentially.

Ryan Mac /
@rmac18: There are parallels to the NYPost Hunter Biden laptop story. The key difference is Twitter prevented distribution of the NYPost story because it believed the material had been hacked (though it later turned out not to be.) In Klippenstein's case, it's been established that the

Ali Breland /
@alibreland: notable how quickly they started enforcing the vance dossier given how diminished the moderation team is and how they often dont bother to handle a lot of things that otherwise violate the rules, or at least handle them quickly [image]

Elizabeth Lopatto /
Elizabeth Lopatto on LinkedIn: seems familiar... https://lnkd.in/g4DCN5Zm

Leah McElrath /
@leahmcelrath: I read through the table of contents of the JD Vance dossier. The information it contains appears to be all—or mostly all—part of the public record. It's hard to see how Ken violated TOS, especially since this entire platform is weaponized by foreign ICs.

Ryan Mac /
@rmac18: The irony of this is that it appears X got rid of the page explaining its once existent “hacked materials” policy. So it's unclear why Klippenstein was suspended. https://help.x.com/... https://x.com/... [image]

Dave Karpf /
@davekarpf.bsky.social: I mean sure, I'm happy to point and laugh at Elon's hypocrisy here. — But I'm not gonna rally to the cause of engagement-bait. — Two things can both be bad for different reasons at the same time. @BackFromTheDud@mas.to: @Mediagazer Ay, Melon Husk has a variable definition of what “Free Speech” is.

Dave Karpf /
@davekarpf.bsky.social: The Klippenstein thing is just raw Substackonomics: —Dude posts the Vance dossier, declaring “sure it's Iranian hackers but I'm a courageous journalist btw plz subscribe.” —bunch of people say “lol fuck yeah here's money.” —Elon suspends. —Next he'll say “I'm being silenced! plz subscribe!” [image]

Jon Passantino /
@passantino@threads.net: A spox for X says: “Ken Klippenstein was temporarily suspended for violating our rules on posting unredacted private personal information, specifically Sen. Vance's physical addresses and the majority of his Social Security number.” — RE: https://www.threads.net/...

Mike Masnick /
@mmasnick.bsky.social: I am sure that Jim Jordan will be launching an investigation into Elon Musk's suppression of this leak about someone close to a presidential campaign this close to an election. — Right? — Or did that only apply to the Hunter Biden laptop? [embedded post]

Alex Howard /
@digiphile@mastodon.social: Today, X suspended @kenklippenstein after he published a dossier the Trump campaign compiled on J.D. Vance on his newsletter on Substack, citing a rule against “posting private info.” Verge reports X is blocking the URL, scrubbing it from search, & deleted their hacked materials policy. https://www.theverge.com/... …

Zach Edwards /
@thezedwards: X is locking accounts that link to the J.D. Vance report released by Ken Klippenstein. I assume they are locking all the accounts that linked to the old 2016 leaked docs too? Oh right, forgot this is a partisan network now. [image]

Justin Baragona /
@justinbaragona: UPDATE A Twitter/X spokesman told me that Ken Klippenstein was temporarily suspended for sharing JD Vance's personal information, specifically his home address and partial Social Security number. https://x.com/...

Leah McElrath /
@leahmcelrath: So @kenklippenstein published the hacked dossier on JD Vance, and Elon Musk suspended his account: [image]

TechCrunch:

Subscription management platform RevenueCat acquires Dipsea, an app that offers subscriptions for “spicy” audiobooks, as a test ground for RevenueCat's features— On the heels of its earlier $12 million fundraise, subscription management platform RevenueCat has made its first acquisition — and it's an unusual one.

Radio World:

The FCC voted to impose fines for three Miami-area pirate radio operators totaling $800K+ and proposes fines totaling $1M for three suspected NYC-area operators— Commission carries out three fines, has three more proposed — The Federal Communications Commission has taken swift action …

Discussion:
@ampersine@mastodon.online: @Mediagazer — I heard it, I heard it, I heard it on the X — https://youtube.com/...

Kelcee Griffis /
Bloomberg: FCC Levies $6 Million Fine Against Biden Robocaller

Adam Jacobson /
Radio & Television Business Report: FCC Affirms Miami Pirate Radio Fines As N.Y. Offenders Get Proposed Penalties

CNN:

Nevada court hearings in the Murdoch family succession fight ended outside of public view; resolution may take weeks and be appealed to Nevada's Supreme Court— New York CNN — — The fate of Rupert Murdoch's vast media empire, including Fox News, is now in the hands of a Reno probate commissioner …

Discussion:
@passantino@threads.net

The Register:

Matt Mullenweg says WP Engine no longer has free WordPress.org access and directs WP Engine customers having trouble with their websites to WP Engine support— WordPress on Wednesday escalated its conflict with WP Engine, a hosting provider, by blocking the latter's servers …

Discussion:
Tedium, WordPress News, @viewfromthebox, @bgardner, @photomatt, @automattic, @carlhancock, @bowefrankema, @ozskier, @photomatt, @davidtaggart, @photomatt, @vinnysgreen, @benjmay, @patchstackapp, @mgeheren, @stshank, @rmccue, @fjzeit, @bgardner, @shendison, @joshmanders, @itsdavemartin, @thespacedmonkey, MarTech, @thedannorris, @dcurtis, @wpdavidv, @taraclaeys, @mrlanphear, @danielcid, @tomfrankly, @seldo, @pressable, @t3dotgg, @williamsba, @slexaxton, @photomatt, @deviorobert, @tealou, @photomatt, @timbouchard, @tmeister, @jbenton, @keithdevon, @raymmar_, @wordpress, Dave Martin, WP Engine's Status Page, TechRadar, Search Engine Journal, @runakog@threads.net, @dvk@toot.re, TechCrunch, @Kye@tech.lgbt, @Jayhoffmann@mastodon.social, @bretcarmichael@mastodon …, @jalefkowit@vmst.io, @chris@mastodon …, One Man & His Blog and TechCrunch, more at Techmeme »

Discussion:

Ernie Smith /
Tedium: Content Fighting Systems

Matt Mullenweg /
WordPress News: WP Engine is banned from WordPress.org

Jacob Martella /
@viewfromthebox: Today in Matt destroys the WordPress community: you can't add plugins directly from the .org repo if you have a WP Engine site. And I can confirm that this is happening. https://www.reddit.com/... [image]

Brian Gardner /
@bgardner: My heart is breaking. 💔

Brian Gardner /
@bgardner: Many things out of my control, but some are not. I will continue to: ✴︎ Advocate for #WordPress. ✴︎ Make myself available to you. ✴︎ Create for the community. Please reach out if there is any way I can support you or your business.

Matt Mullenweg /
@photomatt: @deviorobert ... They do, they just don't want to spend it. It will cost them a lot more than the 8% deal they turned down. @automattic: Automattic is deeply committed to open source, and we will continue to safeguard its ideals and the community that supports it. We want to make this clear: Using “WP” is not a trademark issue.

Carl Hancock /
@carlhancock: For the record, if someone sued me I'd stop supporting them too unless I was compelled to do so by a judge. Just saying.

Bowe Frankema /
@bowefrankema: This is the absolute low point in #WordPress history. Crippling core functionality remotely due to a corporate conflict goes against everything the software stands for, and utterly destroys the mission of an open web, and the community that helped build it.

Dave Amirault /
@ozskier: This is absolutely insane and such a disgusting abuse of power by @photomatt. I have clients using @wpengine and now they can't easily install plugins or update themes. #WordPress [image]

Matt Mullenweg /
@photomatt: @bgardner @wpengine Happy to unblock you, drop your legal claims and get a trademark license. @davidtaggart: This Wordpress vs WP Engine mess is the dumbest damn thing I have ever seen. Whatever the backstory ends up being @photomatt just shot the WP ecosystem in the stomach. It will see a slow and steady death. Right now like 40% of sites are on WP. In 10 years it will be 20% or

Matt Mullenweg /
@photomatt: @init_sh Nope! None of them have publicly attacked me and https://wordpress.org/.

Vinny Green /
@vinnysgreen: Let's triage the obvious problem before we start concerning ourselves with anything that appears as problem. WP Engine and Silverlake have never been in position to screw up WordPress as bad as Matt is screwing it up now.

Ben May /
@benjmay: Wondering if this is a new option lol @patchstackapp: All @patchstackapp users with protection turned on at #WPengine will continue to receive virtual patches to all of the latest security vulnerabilities as usual. Meanwhile, we hope the situation resolves soon and users are able to update to patched versions ASAP.

Michael Geheren /
@mgeheren: Not being able to do @WordPress updates because of the @photomatt/@wpengine fight is infuriating. For a small nonprofit, being caught in the middle of this could be costly if we need to migrate our sites to a new host. That money/time should be used for our mission.

Stephen Shankland /
@stshank: The fight between @WordPress and @wpengine just got orders of magnitude uglier, with the latter's paying customers now unable to update their site plugins (which is to say secure their websites). WordPress statement: https://x.com/...

Ryan McCue /
@rmccue: For the continued health and vibrancy of the WordPress project, WP Engine must win. https://journal.rmccue.io/... @fjzeit: Imagine if every large open source initiative went daggers at the commercial operations that profit from it without suitable financial support in return. Sure, the WP drama has other angles around appropriate conduct wrt impact upon users but the fundamental issue is solid.

Brian Gardner /
@bgardner: I want to share: https://wordpress.org/ has blocked @wpengine customers from updating and installing plugins and themes via WP Admin—disrupting essential work for #WordPress users, agencies, freelancers, and plugin developers. Please read: https://wpenginestatus.com/...

Scott Hendison /
@shendison: It took @wpengine support chat over 20 minutes to tell me that “this is a known issue”, and they'll update me by email, but NOW I know that it's an issue for ALL websites you host? WTF?!? Why not tell your support chat? Is this related to the @photomatt criticism / drama from [image]

Josh Manders /
@joshmanders: Automattic was an investor in WPEngine's Series A round. They had zero issues with what WPEngine has been doing until now. Imagine if I convinced Vercel to invest in my series A for Primcloud because I was going to have specialized hosting for Next.js and then a decade later

Dave Martin /
@itsdavemartin: I shared my thoughts on Matt's recent comments. Here's my summary of the primary issue: WPEngine extracts a great deal of value from the WordPress ecosystem without giving much back to the WordPress commons in return. You can read my full thoughts here: https://davemart.in/... @thespacedmonkey: My thoughts on WP Engine drama. I feel like saying that WPE doesn't contribute to WordPress and WordPress ecosystem seems a little disingenuous. WPE, has sponsored countless WordCamps and local meetups. There bought and kept open source plugins like ACF & wpgraphql

Dan Norris /
@thedannorris: Big test happening now for Open Source CMS tech. It's always been confusing to me what was allowed and what wasn't. We named WP Curve pretty much because we saw @wpengine and others use that wording and assumed it was OK, but it's always been a grey area.

Dustin Curtis /
@dcurtis: Automattic's bizarre, unconvincing fight with WP Engine is bad for Wordpress, bad for open source software, and bad for the web. There has to be more to the story than a petty fight over disabling revision history. It makes no sense.

David Vogelpohl /
@wpdavidv: Schools, governments, emergency service websites, churches, non profits, healthcare websites. These are just some of the types of important websites Mullenwonka is exposing to security risks by blocking their sites from accessing .org. DANGEROUS, SHAMEFUL, WRONG.

Tara Claeys /
@taraclaeys: @LilJimmi @photomatt Massive panic and confusion coming from my clients who own their own accounts at WPE but have no idea what that means. It will cost them money to move, and cost us many hours to access their DNS and help move their sites to ... possibly the next company that gets banned? @mrlanphear: This latest stunt by Matt Mullenweg is unconscionable. You're not harming @wpengine. You're harming their customers. WordPress' customers. My agency's customers. You're about to make my life as a developer a living hell. Fix this before you can't undo the damage. @photomatt

Daniel Cid /
@danielcid: To all WordPress and Linux users out there. Image how would react if Ubuntu (for example) blocked your servers from receiving updates and installing new packages because you never contributed back or donated to Ubuntu. If they found the IP ranges for all your servers and got it

Thomas Frank /
@tomfrankly: This is absolutely the wrong way to handle this dispute. All my sites were previously on WP Engine. If I hadn't moved them a couple years back, I'd be feeling pretty screwed right now. Even though I did, I'm still pretty angry on behalf of all the site owners who did nothing

Laurie Voss /
@seldo: Meanwhile over in Wordpress land things are escalating wildly. You can't power 40% of the web and act this way, people will fork your shit. @pressable: If you're not happy with your hosting at WP Engine but you bought into an annual contract, we want to help set you free. Check out our special offer here: https://pressable.com/...

Theo /
@t3dotgg: WordPress will never die, but today they killed the trust their community had in them.

Brad Williams /
@williamsba: This now affects all of us. This is no longer anti-WPE, this is anti-WordPress. This hurts us all. Unreal.

Alex Sexton /
@slexaxton: genuinely have no clue about this wordpress drama but I feel compelled to say that I was on the board of the jQuery foundation during some of the glory years and @photomatt was the ~largest donor. definitely puts his money where his mouth is in supporting dependent oss.

Matt Mullenweg /
@photomatt: @DavidTaggart Let's check back in ten years! I set my calendar.

Matt Mullenweg /
@photomatt: @TaraClaeys @LilJimmi No other company has attacked https://wordpress.org/, so you should be fine.

Robert DeVore /
@deviorobert: @DuaneStorey @schutzsmith “they have full access to the GPL code. they just need to host and run it themselves” - @photomatt I'm no mathematician, but I think Silver Lake may have enough money to clone https://wp.org/ and run an independent repository of the themes and plugins + core files found

Téa Smith /
@tealou: This is an absolutely disgusting move from @WordPress So in order to maintain continuity for clients, I need to eat the time sent on manual updates or migrate away from an excellent hosting provider. Not good enough. I stand with @wpengine

Matt Mullenweg /
@photomatt: @hashim_warren ... WP Engine controls the code on your site, as they demonstrated by blocking the meetups widget. They should be able to copy all the GPL code in the repository and provide it to their customers.

Tim Bouchard /
@timbouchard: Matt's out of line. If he wants to waste money chasing bogus legal claims he should do it without affecting the people. Absolute insanity #WordPress

Enrique Chavez /
@tmeister: I totally agree with this take. Not only must #WPEngine win, but Matt should be removed from any position with decision-making power on any #WordPress entity (.org, .com and the foundation).

Joshua Benton /
@jbenton: This is getting very ugly.

Keith Devon /
@keithdevon: @WordPress Some of my clients use WP Engine. You're hurting them. You're hurting my business. You're hurting the WordPress community. @raymmar_: This is absolutely bonkers. I've been a @wpengine customer for almost a decade and now I'm being punished arbitrarily by a so called “open source” platform. This is a sad day for the WordPress community. @wordpress: Pending their legal claims and litigation against https://wordpress.org/, WP Engine no longer has free access to https://wordpress.org/'s resources. https://wordpress.org/... #WordPress

Roger Montti /
Search Engine Journal: WordPress Bans Thousands Of WP Engine Customers

Runako Godfrey /
@runakog@threads.net: The way this is written makes WordPress look bad. Petty management, opaque accusations, the whole thing. I don't know what went down, but this does not look like a mature reaction from the organization that powers 40%(?) of websites. https://wordpress.org/...

Danny van Kooten /
@dvk@toot.re: I'm pretty uncomfortable with these kinds of posts and use of language on the WordPress.org blog, regardless of whatever the f. is happening. — https://wordpress.org/...

Kye Fox /
@Kye@tech.lgbt: This has escalated to WP Engine being blocked from updates using the repositories on the open source project's servers. This is going to be the end of WordPress if it keeps up. https://wordpress.org/... #WordPress #wpengine

Jay Hoffmann /
@Jayhoffmann@mastodon.social: Every time I think Matt has found a point of no return, he goes a little bit further. — This is egregious, sloppy, and destructive for a community and software that I truly love. — https://wordpress.org/...

Bret Carmichael /
@bretcarmichael@mastodon.social: WordPress has confirmed that it terminated WP Engine's access to the plugin repo. Any legal consequences aside, this presents a lot like a malware attack. Instead of installing malware directly, WordPress is blocking WP Engine sites from receiving security updates that might prevent it, including critical severity ones. …

Jason Lefkowitz /
@jalefkowit@vmst.io: I am sincerely starting to wonder whether Matt Mullenweg is OK — https://wordpress.org/... [image]

Chris Wiegman /
@chris@mastodon.chriswiegman.com: I wasn't totally convinced that it was time to abandon #WordPress completely but now I know that it is definitely the right time to do so. How long until this happens to every host? https://wordpress.org/...

Adam Tinworth /
One Man & His Blog: What the hell is happening at Automattic (part 2)?

Ivan Mehta /
TechCrunch: Automattic sends a cease-and-desist letter to WP Engine, alleging unauthorized use of the WordPress trademark, after WP Engine sent a C&D letter on September 23

RELATED:
Matt Mullenweg: Matt Mullenweg says Automattic has “been attempting to make a licensing deal” with WP Engine “for a very long time, and all they have done is string us along”

Discussion:
TechCrunch, Fast Company, @photomatt@mastodon.social and Automattic, more at Techmeme »

Discussion:

Ivan Mehta /
TechCrunch: The WordPress vs. WP Engine drama, explained

Chris Stokel-Walker /
Fast Company: The chaos at WordPress revolves around a clash of egos

Matt Mullenweg /