I think the major reason that these Regulatory Agencies make companies pay for the regulations is simply a matter of business. They spend a huge number of man hours to develop all of these regulations that are essentially only to be used by other companies, not themselves. If you want to be compliant with a certain agency, it is a smart business choice by the agency to make you pay for their material that is really only helping you to meet the guidelines. I also think, from personal experience, that the cost to purchase regulations is very minimal and isn’t something a major company really spends much time worrying about. That is of course different for academic institutions where money is very limited. These cases could definitely benefit from subscription style reading or reduced rates.

Kaitlin Connell