The UK of course has to be different and difficult. First you need to search the indexes for likely matches which just gives you a name and place and some code numbers which refer to the actual data. There is, as far as I know, no way to check further which of the possibilities is the correct one for your ancestor. Then you need to order a copy of the certificate by post which may arrive with you a month later. As I have 5 possibles for Arthur Victor Davies's birth then I would need to order 5 certificates or do them one at a time and take 6 months to check which was his.
This system is archaic and frustrating, historic data should be in the public domain and freely available online.
To make matters worse many companies have seen an earning potential without doing much work, they allow you to search the freely available indexes at a cost, I realise the cost is not high but it all adds up, these sites are the same ones that encourage you to share you tree online 'for the good of the community' then they charge other users access fees.
Fortunately there are some free alternatives such as FreeBMD
FreeBMD is an ongoing project, the aim of which is to transcribe the Civil Registration index of births, marriages and deaths for England and Wales, and to provide free Internet access to the transcribed records. It is a part of the FreeUKGEN family, which also includes FreeCEN (Census data) and FreeREG (Parish Registers).
You still need to wave your plastic about to get the actual data, and wait for the certificate to arrive before you can carry on with the research, but this does at least starve the leeches a little.
The more astute reader will of seen that the Free*** sites are sponsored by rootsweb and Ancestry, I'll let you draw your own conclusions and correct me if I'm wrong.
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