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Preemptive note for those who are concerned that ISO charges money for the final official text of the standard [...] the final text where ISO asserts copy

Preemptive note for those who are concerned that ISO charges money for the final official text of the standard [...] the final text where ISO asserts copyright. Why are ISO standards copyrighted, and sold for money? Isn't the ISO mostly funded by member nations? How is this helping to promote the actual use of these standards, at all?

noodly 15y ago
From the FAQ: "Why aren't ISO standards free? ISO standards cost money to develop, publish and distribute. Someone has to pay. The current system whereby users are requested to pay for the standards they use, not only sustains the development process but also, very importantly, ensures that the balance of independent vs. government, private vs. public interests can be maintained." http://www.iso.org/iso/iso_catalogue/faq_standards_2.htm http://www.iso.org/iso/iso_catalogue/faq_standards_2.htm
- nknight 15y ago
  Whining about publishing/distribution costs for standards in 2011 is laughable. The only excuse for printing virtually anything these days is small quick reference cards, invoices and packing lists (mostly for shipping), and labels. Most of the people that actually work on the standards are paid for their work by companies in the relevant field. If the organization was running anywhere close to correctly, their costs would be limited to typesetting, some organizational work for meetings, and bandwidth. All of which could be trivially borne by modest contributions of the governments and corporations involved.
  - yuhong 15y ago
    Yea, here ISO is just outdated.
- tripzilch 15y ago
  That's basically the same excuse scientific journals put up.
16s 15y ago
You've never bought an ISO standard, have you. They explain the reason for the costs on the website. When you buy a personal copy, each page will have a footer that reads something like, "Licensed to Bob Smith for Bob Smith's use only." Group licenses cost much more. Anyway, this is off-topic as all ISO standards cost money and have for a long time now. I'm glad C++ has a new standard. The boost additions are great and make C++ even better than it was.
- bostonpete 15y ago
  So you're suggesting that it's off-topic to question whether ISO should be charging for standards docs on the publication day of one of the most widely anticipated standards ever? Just because all other standards cost money?
deleted 15y ago
[deleted]

noodly 15y ago

From the FAQ: "Why aren't ISO standards free? ISO standards cost money to develop, publish and distribute. Someone has to pay. The current system whereby users are requested to pay for the standards they use, not only sustains the development process but also, very importantly, ensures that the balance of independent vs. government, private vs. public interests can be maintained." http://www.iso.org/iso/iso_catalogue/faq_standards_2.htm http://www.iso.org/iso/iso_catalogue/faq_standards_2.htm

nknight 15y ago
Whining about publishing/distribution costs for standards in 2011 is laughable. The only excuse for printing virtually anything these days is small quick reference cards, invoices and packing lists (mostly for shipping), and labels. Most of the people that actually work on the standards are paid for their work by companies in the relevant field. If the organization was running anywhere close to correctly, their costs would be limited to typesetting, some organizational work for meetings, and bandwidth. All of which could be trivially borne by modest contributions of the governments and corporations involved.
- yuhong 15y ago
  Yea, here ISO is just outdated.
tripzilch 15y ago
That's basically the same excuse scientific journals put up.

16s 15y ago

You've never bought an ISO standard, have you. They explain the reason for the costs on the website. When you buy a personal copy, each page will have a footer that reads something like, "Licensed to Bob Smith for Bob Smith's use only." Group licenses cost much more. Anyway, this is off-topic as all ISO standards cost money and have for a long time now. I'm glad C++ has a new standard. The boost additions are great and make C++ even better than it was.

bostonpete 15y ago
So you're suggesting that it's off-topic to question whether ISO should be charging for standards docs on the publication day of one of the most widely anticipated standards ever? Just because all other standards cost money?

deleted 15y ago

[deleted]