Another publisher catch-22?

I had a really enjoyable day at Colorado State University yesterday – making a videocast and then giving a hyperpresentation which ranged from repositories to the growing destructive power of organised publishing. At drinks afterwards I made the usual suggestion – "if we all stopped taking closed access journals the publishers would have to toe the line?"
And the librarians at CSU hit me with a terrifying gotcha. Apparently it applies to more than one publisher – and necessarily learned societies also.
The learned societies are not only member-organisations, quasi-commercial publishers and keepers of the discipline (a worthy role), but also provide accreditation for courses. This is, of course, highly worthy in itself and an useful way of accrediting schools which are, perhaps, not large enough to run their own course reviews. (I am not sure how much this varies from country to country).
BUT the society as part of its accreditation service requires that the college take certain journals and use certain information products which happen to be supplied by the society. If the college removes its subscriptions, then the society refuses to accredit the courses.
If I have got this right it is terrible. In commercial circles it would either be outlawed or highly regulated with chinese walls. But this seems like a monopoly where the publisher (sorry, society) can insist on a college buying highly-priced journals and information products and services.
Please tell me this isn't so.