It does not go back to the people who write the standards, I can guarantee that. As an active member of CISPR SC I at the USNC and WG2, WG3 and WG4 level I can assure you that all my employer does is spend money. The price of the standards (and we have to pay for our copies, too) goes to IEC HQ. I would imagine it is to help pay for the cost of running the organization at the IEC level. It does seem a bit strange to pay about the same price for electronic copies as for hard copies, when the cost of production is essentially zero. On the other hand, you can buy a license for 20 copies of the PDF file for the price of 3 individual copies, so a savings is available when you need a number of copies.
Ghery From: [email protected] [mailto:[email protected]] On Behalf Of [email protected] Sent: Monday, January 09, 2006 11:50 AM To: [email protected] Subject: Making Standards Free Is there any consideration being taken on making all IEC and/or EN standards available free of charge, online in a common format such as .pdf? This would be very nice. When new versions come out, you just download it. We live in the electronic communication age where almost anything in print is available on the internet. Why not documents as important as compliance standards? Currently, where does the money one pays for standards go? It can't begin to recoup the cost of those who write the standards. Doesn't it mainly go to copying and distribution? Should not cost much to put it online, so why don't they just do it? Many government documents are available on-line for free. More and more are available each year. I see this as the trend toward the paperless society. So what does the future hold for IEC and/or EN standards? Come on. Lets do it. Brian - This message is from the IEEE Product Safety Engineering Society emc-pstc discussion list. Website: http://www.ieee-pses.org/ To post a message to the list, send your e-mail to [email protected] Instructions: http://listserv.ieee.org/request/user-guide.html List rules: http://www.ieee-pses.org/listrules.html For help, send mail to the list administrators: Scott Douglas [email protected] Mike Cantwell [email protected] For policy questions, send mail to: Jim Bacher: [email protected] David Heald: [email protected] All emc-pstc postings are archived and searchable on the web at: http://www.ieeecommunities.org/emc-pstc - This message is from the IEEE Product Safety Engineering Society emc-pstc discussion list. Website: http://www.ieee-pses.org/ To post a message to the list, send your e-mail to [email protected] Instructions: http://listserv.ieee.org/request/user-guide.html List rules: http://www.ieee-pses.org/listrules.html For help, send mail to the list administrators: Scott Douglas [email protected] Mike Cantwell [email protected] For policy questions, send mail to: Jim Bacher: [email protected] David Heald: [email protected] All emc-pstc postings are archived and searchable on the web at: http://www.ieeecommunities.org/emc-pstc
