Hunt: Internet is good and bad

The emergence of the internet has brought benefits to the cultural industries, but difficulties as well, according to the culture secretary.

Speaking at the annual reception of the all-party parliamentary media group at Channel 4 Television this week, Jeremy Hunt said that the arrival of the internet is 'incredibly significant', as it creates 'an opportunity to trade our products in a new trade route that's never existed before'.

While Mr Hunt said that it is a 'huge opportunity', this is not the case for many people in the creative industry 'because we've got huge problems with piracy, we've got huge problems with business models being ripped up'.

His comments come as BT and TalkTalk have called for a judicial review into the Digital Economy Act, claiming that it harms people's 'basic rights and freedoms', however creative leaders have argued that it prevents people in the music industry from earning revenue through their work.