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Because it is an international standard accepted by government and many other parties.

I just don't get why an image format needs the ceremony from being an international standard accepted by governments. It's just an image format; governments shouldn't be involved in this at all.

What did ISO give the JPEG XL team that made paywalling the standard worth it? Did ISO pay them or something?

I think you got it the other way around. It is JPEG XL has to pay for it to be published by ISO and certified. And the document will be edited and audited in part.

And in turns government choose format that is protected and safest to use. ISO is ( or was ) part of that equation.

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