Researchers in family history in NSW are fortunate in that our state has a particularly dynamic registry of births, deaths and marriages. Their free online web service at http://www.bdm.nsw.gov.au/Services/IndexSrch.html for consulting the historical indexes is remarkable and rare in the genealogical domain, and the forward-thinking people responsible for this initiative deserve to be congratulated. I was recently cheeky enough (there's no better word) to ask the NSW registry of BDM a naive question: Why can't researchers see the actual records themselves on the Internet? I expected that their reply would invoke, primarily, certain ethical considerations. After all, BDM records are sensitive data, even when they relate to old events, and it is reassuring that they are protected by a government authority. In the friendly reply I received from a person at the registry, the question of confidentiality issues was indeed mentioned. But I was slightly surprised to learn that the main reason why they don't release their records in a "self service" style on the Internet concerns the down-to-earth matter of money. Apparently, the NSW registry of BDM is self-funding. That's to say, to finance their operations (including staffing costs and technological development), they need the revenue generated from the issue of certificates. Reading between the lines, I have the impression that it would be technically feasible for the registry to propose electronic images of certificates at a reduced fee (with respect to the fee for paper copies), but it appears that no such plans are currently envisaged at this level. I thought these remarks might interest list members. William Skyvington Gamone 38680 Choranche France