> Turning the ISA into an ISO standard helps curb such attempts.
Why do you think that would help? I fail to see how that would help.
It also cements the fact that the technology being standardized is simply too fundamental and likely ubiquitous for folks to worry about it being turned into a strategic weapon.
Taking the previously mentioned ethernet example (not a perfect one I should accentuate again): why bother with blocking it's uptake when it is too fundamentally useful and enabling for a whole bunch of other innovation that builds on top.
> It also cements the fact that the technology being standardized is simply too fundamental and likely ubiquitous
Why do you think everything with an ISO standard is even remotely fundamental? There is an ISO standard for M/MUMPS (https://www.iso.org/standard/29268.html, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/MUMPS, for example, but I wouldn’t call it fundamental. Some systems would break if MUMPS became illegal, but fundamental requires more, IMO.