Matt Mullenweg says WP Engine no longer has free WordPress.org access and WP Engine customers having trouble with their sites should contact WP Engine support (Thomas Claburn/The Register)

Mediagazer: Matt Mullenweg says WP Engine no longer has free WordPress.org access and WP Engine customers having trouble with their sites should contact WP Engine support (Thomas Claburn/The Register)

Top News:

The Register:

Matt Mullenweg says WP Engine no longer has free WordPress.org access and WP Engine customers having trouble with their sites should contact WP Engine support— WordPress on Wednesday escalated its conflict with WP Engine, a hosting provider, by blocking the latter's servers …
Discussion: @jbenton, @keithdevon, @raymmar_, @wordpress, One Man & His Blog, WordPress News, Search Engine Journal, r/Wordpress and TechRadar, more at Techmeme »

Discussion:

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

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

Matt Mullenweg /
WordPress News: WP Engine is banned from WordPress.org r/Wordpress: Get the Reddit app — Scan this QR code to download the app now — Or check it out in the app stores

RELATED:

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

Discussion:
@carnage4life, Search Engine Journal, more at Techmeme »

Discussion:

Dare Obasanjo /
@carnage4life: WordPress hit the same problem other open source cloud software like Redis, MongoDB and ElasticSearch have. You do a bunch of R&D only for another company to host your software and provide the same or better service with your free labor. [image]

Dare Obasanjo /
@carnage4life: Usually companies change licenses in response to this form of asymmetric competition. It's unusual to first demand a portion of revenue and then sue for trademark violations instead. The business impact on Automattic/WordPress must be non-trivial https://techcrunch.com/...

Nieman Lab:

A look at Project 2025's plans for the news media, including defunding NPR, PBS, and other public broadcasters and removing restrictions on media ownership— From defunding NPR and PBS to kicking reporters out of the White House, it's an array of conservative priorities and Trumpian retreads.

Discussion:
@froomkin, @jillgeisler, Tong Li on LinkedIn, @johnastoehr, @newsjennifer, @jbenton and @laurengbarton

Discussion:

Dan Froomkin /
@froomkin: Good read. Grim stuff.

Jill Geisler /
@jillgeisler: Read and share.

Tong Li /
Tong Li on LinkedIn: The Nieman Lab article on Project 2025 offers a crucial look at how this initiative could reshape the journalism landscape … @johnastoehr: Reporters will be as surprised by their political incarceration under Trump as they have been by the economic boom under Biden. Why? Because they weren't doing their jobs as journalists.

Jennifer Schulze /
@newsjennifer: HOLY HELL THIS IS FRIGHTENING. Make sure you read this @jbenton piece on the #Project2025 plans to crack down on journalists.... and share it with everyone you know.

Joshua Benton /
@jbenton: New by me —> You've heard about what Project 2025 would mean for abortion rights, climate policy, immigration, and much more. But what would it mean for journalists and the news industry? (a brief 🧵) https://www.niemanlab.org/...

The Hollywood Reporter:

Disney officially launches its password-sharing crackdown, letting users add an “Extra Member” for $6.99/month for Disney+ Basic, or $9.99 for Disney+ Premium— The company rolled out what it is calling its paid sharing policy this week, letting users add a member outside their household …

Discussion:

Ryan Faughnder /
Los Angeles Times: Disney+ launches password sharing crackdown. What you need to know @juwanthecurator.bsky.social: I'm sorry, I just can't imagine willingly handing over your bank accounts for this nonsense [embedded post]

Erik Gruenwedel /
Media Play News: Disney+ Expands Password Sharing Crackdown, Updates Paid Account Sharing Guidelines

Lucas Manfredi /
The Wrap: Disney+ Password Sharing Crackdown Rolls Out for US Subscribers - Here's Everything You Need to Know

Jacob Siegal /
BGR: Disney+ password sharing: How much it costs and how it works

Emma Keates /
AV Club: Disney+ says bibbidi bobbidi bye to password sharing

Todd Spangler /
Variety: Disney+ Launches Broad Password-Sharing Crackdown, Offers Paid ‘Extra Member’ Option

Chance Miller /
9to5Mac: You can officially no longer share your Disney+ account without paying extra

Jill Goldsmith /
Deadline: Disney+ Unveils Details Of Password Sharing Crackdown

Anna Washenko /
Engadget: Disney+ account sharing crackdown starts today in the US

Deadline:

Sources: Disney is laying off ~300 people in the US in corporate operations, including in communications; ESPN, Disney Entertainment, and parks are not affected— Disney is in the middle of a new wave of cuts as part of a “cost-saving initiative,” sources tell Deadline.

Discussion:

Thomas Buckley /
Bloomberg: Disney Undertakes Fresh Round of Job Cuts at the Corporate Level

Todd Spangler /
Variety: Disney Lays Off Several Hundred Corporate-Level Employees

Poynter:

The New York Post reporter covering top Wisconsin political races has strong ties to Republicans and conservatives and was paid by Republican entities in 2023— In the wake of Olivia Nuzzi-RFK Jr. scandal, New York Post fails to disclose GOP politics work of reporter covering Wisconsin races

Discussion:
Crooks and Liars, JSOnline, @coffeebean26, @patrickdmarley, @mattortega, @kennysmith@mstdn.social

Discussion:

Daniel Bice /
JSOnline: Bice: New York Post campaign reporter was a paid consultant for the Wisconsin GOP

Coffee Bean /
@coffeebean26: 👀 Good grief Wisconsin! Amy Sikma's husband Brian is a Senior Fellow at Foundation for Government Accountability And FGA is a member of the advisory board of Project 2025. 😎 Rupert Murdoch's NY Post is a scam. #Wisconsin #wipolitics #wisdems #wisgop

Patrick Marley /
@patrickdmarley: New York Post campaign reporter was a paid consultant for the Wisconsin GOP https://www.jsonline.com/... — via ⁦@DanielBice⁩

Matt Ortega /
@mattortega: Conservatives make a mockery of the journalistic profession. It is all part and parcel with the larger right-wing's desire to obliterate objective journalism and usher in an era of warring propaganda fiefdoms. [image]

Matt Ortega /
@mattortega: Tweets are @amysikma's own. Retweets ≠ endorsement. Articles ≠ in-kind donations. [image]

Kenny Smith /
@kennysmith@mstdn.social: Poynter going in on the Post. — QT @Mediagazer — The New York Post reporter covering top Wisconsin political races has strong ties to Republicans and conservatives and was paid by Republican entities in 2023 (Tom Jones/Poynter) — https://www.poynter.org/... http://mediagazer.com/... …

The Verge:

Mark Zuckerberg says Meta will likely strike “certain partnerships” for AI training content, but some publishers may be overestimating their content's value— 'If they demanded that we don't use their content, then we just wouldn't use their content.'

Discussion:

Winston Cho /
The Hollywood Reporter: Mark Zuckerberg Must Face Deposition in Sarah Silverman's AI Lawsuit Against Meta

Megan Cerullo /
CBS News: Here are the celebrity voices Meta now uses for its AI chatbots

Dominic Patten /
Deadline: Ta-Nehisi Coates & Sarah Silverman Win Bid For Meta “Chief Decision Maker” Mark Zuckerberg To Be Deposed In AI Suit

Mary Kate Carr /
AV Club: Mark Zuckerberg will go to court for A.I. lawsuit while plowing ahead with new celeb endorsements

Kevin Beaumont /
@GossiTheDog@cyberplace.social: Mark Zuckerberg: creators and publishers ‘overestimate the value’ of their work for training AI — Get tae Falkirk on this one, Mark - people deserve to be paid, or have informed opt in consent about not being paid. — https://www.theverge.com/...

Anne F. /
Anne F. on LinkedIn: The sheer arrogance is beyond words — Zuck indicating he can steal because - really - our work doesn't matter ! — If its not valuable - then why steal it ? …

Nilay Patel /
@reckless1280@threads.net: This is broadly how basically every tech company feels about the value of AI training data — they are using so much of it no single creator or publisher matters, and they're striking deals to keep the loudest happy. Sort of good that @zuck just came right out and said it on Decoder so everyone can stop pretending the industry feels otherwise: https://www.theverge.com/...

Bobby Miller /
@therealbobbymiller@threads.net: Cool take! Mark Zuckerberg: creators and publishers ‘overestimate the value’ of their work for training AI https://www.theverge.com/... @noellemitchell@mstdn.social: Mark Zuckerberg: creators and publishers ‘overestimate the value’ of their work for training AI — “Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg says there are complex copyright questions around scraping data to train AI models, but he suggests the individual work of most creators isn't valuable enough for it to matter.” …

Ashley Belanger /
Ars Technica: Cloudflare moves to end free, endless AI scraping with one-click blocking

iMore:

iMore, which covers Apple products and services and is owned by Future PLC, says it will no longer post new content; its forum will stay active until November 1— Time to power down for good. — Dig out your old iPod and fire up your ‘Songs to cry to’ playlist, I come bearing sad news.

Discussion:

Rene Ritchie /
Rene Ritchie on LinkedIn: Future has killed iMore — But it was never just a bunch of database entries on a server farm that can be frozen in carbonite and forgotten. …

Wesley Hilliard /
@HilliTech@techhub.social: This news comes as a shock. I followed iMore from the early days. Rene Ritchie, Serenity Caldwell, and Lory Gil were all big names I read in those days. — When I first became interested in covering tech I reached out to Rene Ritchie, this was before he left iMore, and asked him about work and shared what I had written. …

Daryl Baxter /
@darylbaxter@mastodon.social: It's now official. — I was proud to be part of a site I had read for years, way before I realised writing could be a career. — https://www.imore.com/...

The Intercept:

CNN's Jake Tapper and Dana Bash accused Rep. Rashida Tlaib of antisemitism and doubled down after the source of a statement attributed to Tlaib corrected them— In the last three days, CNN hosts Jake Tapper and Dana Bash have performed a masterclass in journalistic malpractice — better described in this case as “lying.”

Discussion:

Steve Neavling /
Detroit Metro Times: Fact-check: Tlaib did not say Nessel charged pro-Palestinian protesters because she's Jewish

Lisa Schmeiser /
@lschmeiser.bsky.social: This is what you want from your modern political reporters, an absolute immunity to facts if it gets in the way of their narratives. [embedded post]

Erick Fernandez /
@erickfernandez: Just incredible stuff. Two CNN anchors @jaketapper and @biannagolodryga engaging in a smear of what Rashida Tlaib said and the reporter of the original piece, @MCmuckraker, is in the mentions trying to correct the record and letting them know they're spreading lies. [image] @mobute.bsky.social: Absolute garbage people. They should be unemployed. If they need to editorialize a few lies into demonizing Muslims for kicks, they can go to the park and meet all the fists they want. [embedded post]

Steve Neavling /
@mcmuckraker: Anatomy of a Smear Campaign Against Rashida Tlaib: A step-by-step breakdown of how a lie started, spread, and was picked up on by elected officials and high-profile journalists. https://zeteo.com/...

Saeed Jones /
@theferocity.bsky.social: I... really, really don't like those two people (or their producers.) [embedded post] @statuscoup: “When I was talking to Rashida Tlaib she was talking about Anti-Palestinian bias that's across many institutions...not because they are Jewish. It was a complete misrepresentation.” - Detroit @metrotimes reporter @MCmuckraker on MI AG Nessel/CNN smearing Rep. Tlaib as antisemitic [video]

Steve Neavling /
@mcmuckraker: Now Dana Bash from CNN is lying about what happened. U.S. Rep. @RashidaTlaib did not say Nessel filed the charges because she's Jewish. She said there is an anti-Palestinian attitude among many institutions, and most of them are not run by Jewish people.

Dan Gillmor /
@dangillmor@mastodon.social: “CNN Anchors Won't Stop Lying About Something Rashida Tlaib Never Said” — Reprehensible. https://theintercept.com/...

Deborah Sampson /
@DSDJ3147@mastodon.social: #jaketapper is a scab. — So is #danabash #cnn & sadly my own Gov #gretchenwhitmer & #dananessel — I'm so furious I could spit. This is an outrage! — I hope there will be a lawsuit for #defamation — There only putting the #swingstate of #michigan out of reach for #KamalaHarris …

Steven Zekowski /
@steve_zeke@freeradical.zone: > Steve Neavling, the Metro Times reporter who interviewed Tlaib, on whose story the antisemitism claims are based, spent the last two days attempting to counteract the lies, tweeting at Tapper and Bash, and publishing an explicit fact-check report in the Metro Times. — https://theintercept.com/... …

New York Times:

How NBC News, CNN, Fox News, and others are preparing for election day, with contingency plans to push back against misinformation and cover legal reviews— Here's how they're preparing to make calls in a very tight race — and ensure that viewers and readers believe them.

Discussion:
Media Matters for America, @benmullin, TMZ.com

Discussion:

Ben Mullin /
@benmullin: new w/@grynbaum: News organizations across the United States, from CNN to the A.P. to The New York Times, are bracing for chaos and misinformation on election night. “There's distrust in elections — there's distrust in institutions in general.” https://www.nytimes.com/...

Ben Mullin /
@benmullin: We asked Arnon Mishkin, the guy calling the election for Fox News, about the network's then-controversial Arizona call: “I joke that our stomachs were queasy,” he said. “But our brains always said this is going to be fine.” https://www.nytimes.com/...

Associated Press:

A US bankruptcy judge says he will approve an auction of Alex Jones' Infowars and its assets in November 2024 to help Jones pay $1B+ to Sandy Hook families— Conspiracy theorist Alex Jones ' Infowars media platform and its assets will be sold off piece by piece in auctions this fall …

Discussion:

Lori Lewis /
Inside Radio: Judge: Alex Jones' Infowars Media Platform, Assets Likely Bound For Liquidation.

Hadas Gold /
CNN: Alex Jones' conspiracy theory empire Infowars will be sold for parts to help pay Sandy Hook families

Brian Niemietz /
New York Daily News: ‘InfoWars’ auctions ordered to pay Alex Jones' Sandy Hook legal debt

Chris Morris /
Fortune: Infowars is going on the auction block

Ty Roush /
Forbes: Alex Jones' Infowars Will Be Auctioned Off To Help Pay Sandy Hook Families $1.5 Billion—Here's What To Know

Sue Stone /
@knittingknots2@mstdn.social: Judge to approve auctions liquidating Alex Jones' Infowars | AP News — https://apnews.com/... @dogzilla@masto.deluma.biz: So sad, too bad — Judge to approve auctions liquidating Alex Jones' Infowars | AP News https://apnews.com/...

Ellsworth Toohey /
Boing Boing: Alex Jones' InfoWars auctioned to pay Sandy Hook damages

Sean Craig /
The Daily Beast: Alex Jones' Infowars Will Be Sold for Parts at Auction to Pay Sandy Hook Families

Karen Dalton-Beninato /
@kbeninato@mstdn.party: If I had the budget I'd buy all the chairs, sit across from the shell of the studio, and laugh. — https://apnews.com/...

Charisma Madarang /
Rolling Stone: Alex Jones' Infowars to Be Auctioned Off to Help Pay $1.5 Billion He Owes Sandy Hook Families

Elizabeth Williamson /
New York Times: Alex Jones's Infowars Will Be Auctioned Off to Pay Sandy Hook Families

Sean Burch /
The Wrap: Alex Jones' InfoWars to Be Auctioned Off to Pay $1.5 Billion Defamation Damages

TorrentFreak:

A US district court judge grants a judgment against LibGen for copyright infringement, ordering it to pay $30M and requiring the disabling of LibGen domains— A New York federal court has ordered the operators of shadow library LibGen to pay $30 million in copyright infringement damages.

Wired:

X releases its first transparency report since Elon Musk took over; X took action on 2,361 accounts over hateful content in H1 2024, down from 1M in H2 2021— In the first half of 2024, the report says, X received nearly 67 million reports of hateful conduct, and took action on more than 2,000 accounts.

Discussion:

Cristiano Lima-Strong /
Washington Post: Musk decries government ‘censorship.’ His X has been more compliant.

Karissa Bell /
Engadget: X just released its first full transparency report since Elon Musk took over

David Gilbert /
@daithaigilbert: Elon Musk has finally published a Twitter transparency report. In the last report, covering the second half of 2021, the number of accounts Twitter took action against for posting hateful content was: 1,000,000 Under Musk? 2,600 accounts Says it all https://www.wired.com/...

Sam Gutelle /
Tubefilter: X gives advertisers “greater transparency” by reporting its moderation efforts @safety: We are thrilled to introduce X's Global Transparency Report, covering the period from January to June 2024. This report highlights the extensive efforts by our Safety team to cultivate a healthy and secure environment, reaffirming that X remains a safe platform for all users.

Lucas Lago /
Núcleo Jornalismo: Impressoras com IA

Emma Keates /
AV Club: Twitter/X is suspending way more people under Elon Musk

Michael Bishop /
@michaelbishop.me: and it shows [embedded post]

William Gavin /
Quartz: Elon Musk criticizes censorship, but his X grants more government requests than Twitter did

Casey Newton /
@crumbler@threads.net: So, according to X's own numbers, content moderation there has declined by 99.99 percent. — Meanwhile revenue has dropped 84 percent. — In case anyone wondered if there's a business case for content moderation. — RE: https://www.threads.net/...

Queenie Wong /
Los Angeles Times: Elon Musk's X says it's policing harmful content as scrutiny of the platform grows

Chase DiBenedetto /