Hacker News

Levine told The Atlantic that Ford does not “encourage or measure ‘sludge,’” and that “there was zero intent to add ‘sludge’” to my interactions with Ford.

Here's the catch: odds are that what Levine is saying is technically correct - truthful, but misleading.

Sure, they (people in those big businesses) might not be active and directly adding sludge. They might not be encouraging it. Or measuring it. But it's there. Because they created the perfect conditions for it to thrive, as the author shows.

And, sure, odds are they are not targetting the author; that sludge is for every single body in a similar situation.

Why this matters: because any potential law punishing sludge should disregard esoteric concepts like "intention", and focus solely on what the customer gets. If the customer is getting sludged, it doesn't matter if the business says "trust us ( = be gullible filth), we don't have the intention!" - the business should get the short end of the legal stick.