Just like we saw with the ISO 9001 revision process, the early versions of the draft documents were circulated semi-freely to allow for comments. As we got closer to the final standard, the DIS and FDIS versions were no longer made public.
The same principle applies here. Even though the 9101 revision is the most contentious I've ever experienced, we are getting closer to the final document. The IAQG 9101 re-write team dispositioned close to 400 comments offered to the previous draft of the standard.
Remember that the actual documents are published by Standards Bodies, such as SAE, AECMA and JISQ. These organizations make money from selling standards, and the profits are also used to support the standards development committees.