The internet appears to be a huge boon to society as a whole. It comprises the greatest library ever known, available everywhere, all the time – essentially free – a remarkable engine for the dissemination of knowledge and a fantastic communications device. But whether it has been a creator or destroyer of value for the economy is more debatable.

At heart, the internet was developed as a non-commercial facility by government bodies in the US and it remains essentially a non-profit medium. Users expect to surf websites for nothing. But doing so risks undermining the value of content – be it images, words or music. Even more than pirates in south-east Asia, the web ignores copyright and intellectual property laws. It is a global free-for-all.