Is that a dark pattern, or poor ux?
What I meant was that "it does NOT matter" whether it's a UX bug or an intentional pattern. The effects can be the same. If a company doesn't have a lot of money to produce a good UX because they spent it all on trips up to Tahoe for a "workcation", and people rely on that software, it's the same damn thing no matter how you look at it.
i.e. a lack of intent is just as bad as ill intent, in some cases.
Sure, it could be darker. But when you see a bit of a crummy pattern you usually walk away instead of checking out just how bad it could get.
"A Dark Pattern is a user interface that has been carefully crafted to trick users into doing things."
Simply making a user sign up to use your service is hardly a 'carefully crafted trick'.