We have received requests for parsing on numerous occasions; for example, #1, #147, and #342. Besides the discussion in those threads, I've also written a blog post on the subject.

Because such bugs won't stop coming in, and because the personnel on this committee may change and forget why we consistently have shot the idea down, I think it would be beneficial to add a paragraph to the specification document itself laying out why exactly we feel that parsing methods don't belong in ECMA-402.