Just judging from what I read iso8601 is based off of rfc3339 (as i assume the "request for comments" phase is before the iso standardization). ISO slightly improved the rfc, but it is largely the same. "Internet RFCs" (if thats the right word for the phenomenon) are free, that's the whole point. ISO has taken the free (as in speech) and is now selling a derivative work.
I think we need to call Stallman on this one. We need Copyleft licenses on our standards to prevent this kind of corporate freeloading.
ISO just sunk in my esteem, silly dinosaurs. I hope they get replaced by something that makes more sense.
As far as the ISO is concerned, IT business is just one of many businesses for which they manage the standards process. ISO has to pay the bills somehow, don’t they? If they would not charge the users of the standards the bill would go to governments (effectively taxpayers). As far as taxpayers are concerned, if the industry needs standards, they should pay for them themselves. There is merit to the argument that free standards stimulate innovation, but if governments subsidize the industry, they will prefer to subsidize their national industry, not world wide.
I think we need to call Stallman on this one. We need Copyleft licenses on our standards to prevent this kind of corporate freeloading.
ISO just sunk in my esteem, silly dinosaurs. I hope they get replaced by something that makes more sense.