Finally this is getting some attention. Somewhat related, Healthcare startups are struggling with this because the standards they have to comply with (for developing medical software) cost up to 280 EUR (for a pdf!). [1]
One common workaround is to go to "the Estonian site" which offers the same, English version of standards for a much lower price [2]. Being a bit cynical, I would say that Estonia prioritises open information much more highly than.. other developed countries. I created a price comparison on my website [3].
But: The core problem of standards being openly available is still not solved. Why is this not possible? For me, standards are very comparable to the law: A large number of people should comply with it. For that, they must be openly available to everyone. Everything else doesn't make sense. Is that unreasonable?
One common workaround is to go to "the Estonian site" which offers the same, English version of standards for a much lower price [2]. Being a bit cynical, I would say that Estonia prioritises open information much more highly than.. other developed countries. I created a price comparison on my website [3].
But: The core problem of standards being openly available is still not solved. Why is this not possible? For me, standards are very comparable to the law: A large number of people should comply with it. For that, they must be openly available to everyone. Everything else doesn't make sense. Is that unreasonable?
[1] https://www.iso.org/standard/38421.html [2] https://www.evs.ee/en/ [3] https://openregulatory.com/accessing-standards/