I think a good resolution going forward would be for the standards author to divide their work into two sections. One section would explain in plain english th

I think a good resolution going forward would be for the standards author to divide their work into two sections. One section would explain in plain english the regulations and how to follow them -- that could comprise the bulk of the work. Then an appendix could be written in legalese that would be intended to be incorporated into the actual building codes. This part they could make available to legislative bodies for free publication, but the useful part (the explanations and how-to-follow guidelines) would still be the proprietary part. Kind of like giving away the software, but charging for the users manual.