Business Roundup Week Ending November 29

Federal Judge Signals Support for WP Engine in WordPress Dispute

• In a San Francisco federal courthouse on November 27, Judge Araceli Martínez-Olguín signaled her intention to grant “some sort of injunction” in the escalating legal battle between Automattic and WP Engine.
• The judge questioned the technical aspects of WordPress access while showing understanding of the complex situation.
• She further expressed inclination to grant some form of injunction but found WP Engine’s current request too vague.
• Both parties must submit refined proposals by December 3rd to help the judge determine the specific parameters of an injunction.
• Read more in articles from Search Engine Journal and WPTavern.
• And here’s an Expert Legal Analysis of WP vs WPE and what the injunction might look like.

Automattic Expands Content Tools with Harper Acquisition

• Automattic has acquired Harper, a privacy-focused grammar checker that processes corrections locally.
• Harper delivers lightning-fast grammar suggestions in under 20 milliseconds, outperforming major competitors.
• Under the hood, Harper functions as a language server through WebAssembly, making it technically versatile.
• Harper developer Elijah Potter has joined Automattic’s team to lead integration efforts across platforms.
• Read more details in this TechCrunch article.

Holiday downtime? Here’s a Few Must-Watch Streaming Suggestion

• Aside from college football, I don’t spend a lot of time watching television. Over the holidays, though, that tends to change.
• Here are a few streaming options I’ve either watched or queued up for the holidays…
• Buy Now! The Shopping Conspiracy. Streaming on Netflix. This subversive documentary unpacks the tricks brands use to keep their customers consuming and the real impact they have on our lives and the world.
• Surveilled. Streaming on MAX. Journalist Ronan Farrow investigates the growing commercial spyware industry – and the ethical dilemmas of 21st century cyberespionage.
• Day of the Jackal. 1 Season Streaming on Peacock. An elusive assassin is pursued by a tenacious British intelligence officer in a thrilling cat-and-mouse chase across Europe, leaving destruction in its wake.
• Real life on YouTube. For a few years starting in 2009, the iPhone Photos app had a feature called “Send to YouTube.” The result is a sometimes strange, sometimes funny, sometimes mundane collection of real life videos uploaded before people didn’t know that was a bad idea. Read more here or just do a YouTube search for “IMG_XXXX” and replace XXXX with 4 random numbers (or your birthday).
• What’s on your watchlist? Leave a comment below.

Worth a Look

• Lots of WordPressers have moved from X to Bluesky. Are you there?
• The WPMAnageNinja team has launched FluentCommunity, a well-executed rival for BuddyPress and BuddyBoss.
• Freemius has donated the proceeds of its recent 24-hour fundraising campaign to Girls Who Code.
• The US Department of Justice wants Google to sell Chrome to break it’s monopoly. Here’s a timeline of the recent DOJ v Google battles.