To the best of my knowledge, IATA is nothing more than a trade organization comprising most of the worlds airlines. IATA specifically states on their website that they do not involve themselves with passenger issues.

What would be good to find out is just where do so-called IATA regulations obtain their "force of law" from? And just how do IATA regulations bind passengers?

Seems to me that the ticketing regulations are nothing more than internal guidelines for members and travel agents. They are certainly not freely available to the public, unless you want to splash out on US$119 for a Book and CD-ROM.