That reminds me of a certain dataset (public transport timetables) managed for the Czech state by a private company (CHAPS). They have a duty to release the data for free, but instead they only release near-useless cut-down versions. If you want usable data, you have to pay them for the "enhanced" version.

The ministry that oversees this is not interested in changing anything, so despite external efforts, this has been going on for almost a decade.