[throwaway2037]

    > and at most doing what NVMe does where you pay membership dues

No trolling: What is the difference between "pay[ing] membership dues" and paying a fee to access the standard (docs)? To me, they feel the same.

[ethin]

Honest answer (since your not trolling): The difference is more of time than anything else. If I somehow find $5000 to buy access to the PCIe spec, my understanding is that it's per access request. NVMe doesn't charge at all for their specifications; instead, you can join for just $500 per year last time I checked.