问HN：为什么博克在美国对ISBN的垄断是合法的？
显然，这家公司拥有唯一发行国际标准书号（ISBN）的权利；在美国没有其他公司被法律允许这样做。这非常不寻常，因为它是一家营利性公司，而不是政府机构。所以我一定遗漏了什么——为什么会这样？
想象一下，如果政府要求汽车必须有牌照，但不是自己发行或者通过其附属机构，而是要求你从一个寄生的中介那里购买。我知道ICANN在某种程度上有些类似，但ICANN实际上是美国国防机构的一个子机构，因此这是合理的——而且你可以从多家公司购买域名。
为什么国际标准书号不由像美国商标局这样的政府机构资助和管理呢？
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Apparently, this company has the sole right to issue ISBNs; no other company in the USA is legally allowed to do so. This is highly unusual, since it is a for-profit corporation, not a government agency. So I must be missing something—why is this possible?<p>Imagine if the government required car license plates, but instead of issuing them itself or through its affiliates, there was a parasitic middleman that the government required you to buy from. I know ICANN is somewhat similar, but ICANN is effectively a child of a U.S. defense agency, so it makes sense—and you can buy domains from multiple companies.<p>Why isn’t ISBN funded and run by a government agency, like the U.S. Trademark Office?