I completely agree. As a mechanical engineer it makes my blood boil when I cannot access a standard. It's rent seeking at best. Sure my organisation pays for

I completely agree. As a mechanical engineer it makes my blood boil when I cannot access a standard. It's rent seeking at best. Sure my organisation pays for many of the subscriptions, but not infrequently I come across one that isn't and it immediately stymies my work. I have to contact the bureaucracy and convince them to spend $500+ on something that may be completely useless. (it's sometimes unclear how useful or strict a referenced standard is) I can only imagine how hard it would be for the general public to navigate. The European Union has publicly available engineering standards. That is a step in the right direction and every country(or federation) should follow suit.