We wouldn't - as you say, they are a commercial business. We would expect the authorities to provide us with this service, free of charge, so that pilots can access the information they need, in a format they can use it, without incuring charges... but since we don't live in a fantasy dream-world, paying a small amount for the service is the next-best thing!
I think its a little disingenuous to claim that the authorities don't provide us with this information free of charge. They do. The Met Office website, and the AIS website provides access to untold amounts of information without charge.
You really don't have to have been in flying for too long to confirm that in recent times the AIP and Met Data was infinitely harder to get hold of for the man in the street, without paying enormous sums of money.
We can quibble over the format in which the data is delivered, but not over its free availability.
Ian and the boys at Avbrief have done a great job - but it is not necessary to believe that AIS and the Met Office have done a
bad job to think that.
2D