It's the Right Thing
Exams, in general, test the ability to pass exams above an understanding of the subject in question.
In my academic career, up to first degree, in the 60's and early 70's, I sat one open-book exam - one of my final year modules, Electronic Circuit Design.
It was the one and only exam I ever sat that I felt tested my understanding of the subject over my ability to regurgitate facts. I've been boring on about this for the subsequent 50 years, predating the Internet by a little bit.
Of course, to set an exam that does this, the exam setter needs to be highly skilled, but you'd hope that was the case. OK, in this case, it was (then) Dr. (now Prof) Bob Spence, so that definitely applies.
As for vendor quals, don't get me started on them......
Oh, and multiple choice questions. You can game multi-choice far too easily with just a little knowledge - again, unless they're set with a high degree of skill.