The problem is that you're not defining "dark pattern" reasonably. "You’re saying that as long as the terms are clearly communicated they’re not a dark pattern

The problem is that you're not defining "dark pattern" reasonably. "You’re saying that as long as the terms are clearly communicated they’re not a dark pattern, aka unethical." You're saying that something being unethical makes it a dark pattern, and that's wrong. If I rob you at gunpoint, that's definitely unethical, but it's not a dark pattern. "I think if you’re using your superior understanding of the dynamics of using your product to create unreasonable gotcha situations that customers would not have agreed to if they had any choice then that’s dark patterns." Again, this is in no way relevant to the examples cited. Telling the customer that any seats they sign up for must be paid for a full year is not an unreasonably gotcha situation. It's a concept that's clearly explained, and one that won't be a surprise to anyone who has any experience purchasing SaaS products, because it's common industry practice. As to the idea that they don't have a choice to agree, that's virtually never true with SaaS. It is an enormously competitive industry with multiple players in every major area. On top of that, if you're talking about tech companies buying SaaS products, they also have the option to build their own tools if they don't like the options that are available. "Things like making it easy to create data but punitively expensive to get it out in order to switch products." Again, this is true but in no way relevant to anything I've said. If it's clearly communicated that you're going to have to pay a million dollars to get your data out, it's a bad business practice but not a dark pattern. You're applying the label "dark pattern" incorrectly to any SaaS practice you dislike. The phrase has a specific meaning, and any practice that is clearly and honestly communicated up front, even if it's a horrible practice, is not a dark pattern.