To me, this reads like “yea we know this is BS, the press coverage is actually likely to just communicate that you can get away with this type of thing with jus

To me, this reads like “yea we know this is BS, the press coverage is actually likely to just communicate that you can get away with this type of thing with just a slap on the wrist, but our hands are tied in how we can penalize this.” To the larger point, though, even an imperfect regulator is important. There will always be different types of businesses - those who intend to skirt the law and those who attempt to follow it whatever it may be - and regulators keep the second set from acting like the first set, reducing the quantity of bad behavior. They certainly wish they had the fangs to deter both, but at least this may deter the latter.