BRITAIN'S PUBLICALLY FUNDED TV broadcaster – the BBC – is furious that a Dutch businessman, Hendrik Noorderhaven, has placed a teletext search engine on the Web using its content.

The site enables users to search both the Beeb's (BBC's) BBC1 and BBC2 Ceefax teletext pages and is extremely fast. It also searches Eire's equivalent Aertel service.

According to the FT, the Beeb is furious at this use of its IP and is aiming to shut the site down.

Which is rather bizarre, really. The British public funded the creation of that content and would really appreciate a faster method of viewing it than via the clunky old method of teletext pages broadcast directly to teletext compatible TV sets.

It's another case of paying twice for the same information just because the format has changed. µ

L'INQ
Ceefax.tv