I was just thinking today that there should be a government agency devoted to maintaining a list of forbidden dark patterns, reported by consumers or employees.

I was just thinking today that there should be a government agency devoted to maintaining a list of forbidden dark patterns, reported by consumers or employees. The precise system of warnings and punishments available would be up to the legislature to determine. I think the specific examples that prompted me to think of this were 1) remembering that companies temporarily over-price their goods so that they can later advertise a price reduction, and 2) remembering how packaging uses words like "ultimate" subjectively. Many countries probably have laws that already regulate pricing and advertising, and these aren't dark patterns in the same sense as the linked article, but I think that there should be stronger incentives for product managers to avoid manipulating potential customers.