An_ISO_Dude

Are we just going to keep posting articles about ISO publications not being freely available?

It's publicly available but is not free. There is nothing to discuss here and this is not newsworthy.

Most (if not all) people on the committees don't like the paywall. The accountants have to explain every couple years why its necessary. Then people seem to forget and we have to do it all over again. It's cyclical.

We have to make money somehow. I don't understand how people don't understand why this is the case. If you increase the cost of other things then organizations and people won't want to be part of the committees. A lot of the revenue comes from organizations purchasing the work.

Sorry, but you're only kidding yourself if you think you can even compare an RFC with an ISO publication. There's rigor, formality, lawyers, technical writers, and many others involved. RFC is exactly what it sounds like and what was originally intended for: "Request For Comments". There's no conference or central body (at least to the degree that there is for ISO) and it's mostly done in an ad-hoc manner. Nothing against IETF or RFCs, but you're really comparing apples and oranges. I've been coauthor on two RFCs and it is nothing like an ISO committee.

Speaking as someone who is on an ISO committee, this topic of discussion comes up every couple years.

The bottom line is that there are and will always be costs associated with a running an organization, regardless of whether they are for or non profit. There are overhead costs associated with running a website, conferences, technical review, or collaboration tooling for example. While some revenue comes from participants and membership fees, not everything gets covered. The organization does a lot for the public good and it's unacceptable to criticize these passionate engineers that have dedicated their careers to ensuring proper standards globally.