I might be totally misremembering, but I sure thought it was from government and not Bowker. Seems like something that has been privatized and of course prices

I might be totally misremembering, but I sure thought it was from government and not Bowker. Seems like something that has been privatized and of course prices jacked up tremendously. IRRC I wasn't getting an individual ISBN either I was getting a publisher code, and could issue thousands of ISBNs under it. What a scam/racket, esp the barcodes. (like https certs, domain registration and other government mandated monopolies) It doesn't flippin cost $150 to track a number in a database.