> Access to standards also poses challenges. Since the consensus-building process is costly, organizations like ANSI often try to cover expenses by selling or l

> Access to standards also poses challenges. Since the consensus-building process is costly, organizations like ANSI often try to cover expenses by selling or licensing access to standards documents. For example, the book of standards for concrete blocks and masonry structures costs $150. This business model strikes many critics as unjust, since private standards can be built into regulations, yet sometimes only citizens who pay can look at them. This. Incorporation by reference is a real problem. Carl Malamud--the lawyer behind law.resource.org and public.resource.org--has spoken a bit on this topic. Just wanted to highlight this blurb[1] from a PHMSA committee discussing the impact of commercial standards incorporated by reference as it applies to federal regulation: The only common thread that I see in associations in terms of their business model--and they are businesses despite being not-for-profit, and 501(c)(3)s or (c)(6)s--that you charge somebody to be a member, you use those members and their intellectual property to develop products, and then you sell them back to them. It's a crazy business model in some way. You can't imagine how that would work. [1] https://youtu.be/Sdm698P2AkA?t=88 https://youtu.be/Sdm698P2AkA?t=88