The Unstandardized Digest #7
A selection of what I read, watched or listened to recently.
Thumbnail photo by Roman Kraft on Unsplash.
Dear Readers of The Unstandardized,
Here is a new selection of news, articles, videos or podcasts that came to my attention recently:
About standards referenced in the legislation
Pressure on standards bodies to make their standards freely available when referenced in legislation continues to mount, as I have been explaining here and there. Over the past few weeks, two significant court decisions have addressed public access to and, more critically, the fair use of such standards by third parties in commercial products.
The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit affirmed the denial of a preliminary injunction against UpCodes, a technology company that operates a freemium platform aggregating U.S. building and fire codes for use by construction professionals, finding that its online publication, without obtaining a license, of ASTM standards incorporated by reference into law likely constitutes fair use:
In the other case, the European Court of Justice (ECJ) ruled that when an EU directive designed to protect human health refers to international standards, individual must have free access to those standards. This means that such access must be general, effective, without charge and non-discriminatory:
Judgment of the Court in Case C-155/24 | Nederlandse Voedsel- en Warenautoriteit and Others (21 April 2026)
As such, this judgment extends the ECJ decision of 5 March 2024, about European harmonized standards, to international standards published by ISO.
Also on 21 April, the U.S. House Judiciary Subcommittee held a hearing on the Pro Codes Act which seeks to balance copyright protection for Standards Developing Organizations (SDOs) with the public’s right to access the laws that govern them. The bill would affirm copyright protection for standards incorporated by reference while requiring SDOs to make those standards available online at no cost. As you will note watching the video, witnesses represent a wide spectrum of views on this issue:
In a coming article, I will discuss why the push for free access to standards referenced in regulation is throwing the baby out with the bathwater, as legislators and courts overlook the public-private partnership that makes high-quality standards possible in the first place. I will also examine why SDOs that fiercely oppose free access may be choosing the wrong tactic, and why those that embrace it may be underestimating what they are giving away.
About digitalization of standards
This DCL article explains that while organizational dependence on PDF is deepening, not diminishing (PDF is very far from being dead), AI systems working directly from PDFs are building on weak structural foundations:
PDF: Anatomy of a Document Format and the Paradox it Presents for AI (DCL, Data Conversion Laboratory Inc.)
About standards users
IFAN, the International Federation of Standards Users of which I am a Vice-President, has released new episodes of its podcast. I can only, and strongly, invite you to have a listen:
Sonya Bird, UL Standards and Engagement - Bringing the User Voice to Global Standards
Laurie Locascio, ANSI President - Why Users Matter in a Global System
You can also listen and subscribe to the podcast on Apple Podcasts.
About trade, trade governance, trade policies and geopolitics
The future of the World Trade Organization (WTO) remains unclear:
A framework for WTO reform: Less law and more politics (Hinrich Foundation)
Why the WTO is struggling to adapt (Hinrich Foundation)
In the absence of reform, multilateralism is not multilateral anymore:
How 66 (or is it 67?) WTO members are trying to unblock their e-commerce deal (Hinrich Foundation)
The close of the WTO 14th Ministerial Conference in Yaoundé, Cameroon is another warning that the institution’s decision-making machinery no longer meets the demands of modern trade:
The WTO cannot keep calling delay a result (Hinrich Foundation)
About international organizations’ funding
The U.S. House Appropriations Committee has released its FY2027 national security and State Department spending bill, which sets the terms and the limits of U.S. financial engagement with international organizations for the coming fiscal year:
To make a long story short, the financial pressure on international organizations keeps growing and this is not without consequences:
US threatens to halt UN funding unless conditions met (Devex)
ILO considers large-scale layoffs as member states fail to pay dues (Geneva Solutions)
It is in this context of funding and credibility crisis that the United Nations are looking for a successor to Secretary General António Guterres:
Race to lead the UN: candidates grilled on peace, reform and great-power tensions (Geneva Solutions)
New publications
Quality Policy Trilogy (Unido, April 2026)
You may find this article interesting …
https://eulawlive.com/op-ed-clearing-some-smoke-on-the-access-to-international-standards-referred-to-in-eu-legislation-stichting-rookpreventie-ii-c-155-24/