IEEE tracks a vast number of open standards and specifications (e.g., Ethernet, WiFi, Bluetooth). I guess the comment was pointing out that there is a degree of openness in EE.

   > IEEE tracks a vast number of open standards

And demands mega-bucks for a PDF of any of those standards

So that organizations with money that benefit from the standards pay for their creation. For everyone else, there's scihub.

The few university libraries I have been to had online subscriptions to all the IEEE publications so any standard or paper could be downloaded by anyone who walked in to the library and sat in front of a computer. Not as convenient as downloading from your home and office but as freely available as any book in the library.

So how do you propose a non-profit like the IEEE make money?

Collecting $ from member orgs, and not from hobbyists who just want to tinker? How else do you propose to raise the next generation of hackers? By charging them $6000 to simply see a spec they have a minute interest in tinkering with?

Standards bodies usually give hobbyists access to documents if asked, but with strings attached, of course. In other words, they need to somehow prove that you will not be using the spec in a commercial setting. This was my experience with the TCG, for example.

As for the IEEE 802 standards, it seems like individuals can get full access to all specification documents that are 6 months and older via the IEEE GET program: https://ieeexplore.ieee.org/browse/standards/get-program/pag.... That sounds pretty fair, no?

In general, standards groups provide access in a similar way to software companies that give out free (or low-cost) access to their tools for open source developers and university students.