If I may, I think the original question has to do with paying for the standard itself, not the costs of obtaining and maintaining a certification.
If the ISO 9000:2000 set is so great, why is there already talk of the NEXT revision? Is it because of the ~$100 in revenue raised from each company needing a copy of the new standard?
How many of you have had a 3rd party auditor ask to see a copy of the standard? Anyone hear what happens if they get handed a photocopy? So, what is more important, the ideas behind the standard, or the perpetuation of the standard itself?
ISO TC 176 has in many ways become a self-perpetuating buracracy. In some ways they have improved on their listening skills, but the small organization has a small chance of being heard. In some ways ISO enhances innovation, (by the process emphasis, for example) but IMHO it does at least as much to stifle it, especially for a small, (and should be) agile, concern.
As far as the need for maintaining the integrity of the standard through copyright, refer to a currently active thread here where the page numbers for copies of ISO 9001:2000 from the same source DO NOT MATCH UP!!! So much for integrity maintenance.
Oops, there's still soap in the box, and its starting to rain. I'd better get down now, before I'm all washed up!