John writes: > In a move that is, overall, unusual given the "sell standards to > support the business" model, [ISO] have made part of the 3166-1 > list (the alpha-2 codes --which are what we use-- and the > short-form country names) available "for internal use and > non-commercial purposes" online and without charge in HTML, XML, > and semicolon-delimited forms. What choice do they have? Two-letter codes cannot be copyrighted, patented, or protected by trademarks in this context. How could they _restrict_ the use of the codes? Will the USPS soon begin charging people for putting ZIP codes on their envelopes?