They really aren't. If you want to scratch your head, read about Bowker and ISBN.
> "Bowker is the exclusive U.S. agent for issuing International Standard Book Numbers (ISBNs), a universal method of identifying books in print. (...) It is now owned by Cambridge Information Group."
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/R.R._Bowker
Cambridge Information Group? click
> "Cambridge Information Group (CIG) is a privately owned group of information services and publishing companies and educational institutions."
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cambridge_Information_Group
Ok... that kind of sounds like conflicts of interest waiting to happen. Not to mention ISBNs being the kind of fundamental infrastructure/natural monopoly combination where I definitely would not want to see a for-profit entity be in charge of it.
But that's just my gut-feelings. How does this set-up play out in practice?
In a nutshell they have a monopoly and their fees for licensing are extortionate - and they won't even talk to you unless you're "very serious".
They crushed a startup I consulted with eight years or so ago by playing along and then vastly increasing their fees just prior to launch.
Also, their only API (I haven't checked but I doubt things have changed) is EDI.
So, they have important and valuable data that they don't like to license, and make hard to access when they do.
I don't think that something of such importance should be in the hands of a private entity.