Paul,
A few comments.
1. My company is not a member of the ITU, but I have attended a few non-rapporteur standards meetings (working-group meetings?) and was only required to request permission to attend from the chair, not a governmental agency. And I doubt whether anyone would be challenged if he or she just walked in uninvited, although that wouldn't be polite. :-)
2. I think Francois was referring to the fact that the IMTC said that as of the beginning of this year they were going to close the H.323 _implementors_ reflector so that only IMTC members could participate. I and others complained. For small companies, even the IMTC's $7500 yearly dues are prohibitive. Smith Micro can afford that but not the ITU's $30,000 dues. The IMTC hasn't closed the reflector so far, so they either forgot (quite likely) or have backed off without formally stating a change in policy.
3. Although it may irritate some folks to pay anything, the cost of a published ITU document is usually insignificant, e.g., 13USD, and the drafts are available at no cost.
Paul Long Smith Micro Software, Inc.