The concept of control is misunderstood, as well. In actuality, if a standard isn't controlled, it will soon become stagnant or crumble into myriad dialects and implementations, rendering it ineffective. There are variations on this theme, but when large numbers of people develop and adopt a standard, it needn't be technically elaborate to be highly effective. The key here is that the community wants the standard to succeed. Traditional formal standards organizations are experienced in consensus-based processes.
Membership is open to all, and everyone gets an equal say.
Some members sincerely want the standard to succeed and some, unfortunately, don't. Closed proprietary standards, owned by a single company, are available only to that company's customers. They are fast to evolve and well supported. Other vendors are not allowed to use them, thus reducing tool interoperability. Licensing by a standards company is a way to transfer closed standards into the public domain.