A French alternative to Google Earth - offering hi-res coverage of the entire country - went into meltdown last Friday shortly after its launch and is still unavailable due to a stampede of punters eager to avail themselves of the free service.

French prez Jacques Chirac chaired the official launch of Geoportail, Yahoo! reports, and quickly administered the Gallic Kiss of death to the project by proclaiming: "This is a step forward for all citizens, which places France at the forefront of new technologies."

The entire story can be found here

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