Lots of facts and fancy mixed up here.
Yes, it sucks that individual IEEE papers cost so much. However, at least they make some attempt at peer review (and at least some of us do a pretty thorough job). And, for those who have not done it, there is a hell of a lot of work that goes into publishing this stuff for what amounts to a really limited audience.
And, they allow authors to make their work available. There are restrictions, but they are not onerous. See
https://www.ieee.org/publications/rights/rights-policies.html. No, it's not perfect, but essentially authors and their employers can make the papers available if they so choose. It's much better that Elsevier or the like.
That being said, it's probably a dying model.
As for academia, the crazy patent stuff started in the US when states cut funding for state schools, at least. In return, the schools got ability to monetize IP, and in some states, raise tuition.
In the name of KNOWLEDGE, I am providing my opinions for FREE
John