09/07/2014 World Business Report

torrential rain and 250 kilometre an hour winds. Those are the latest

headlines from BBC World News. Now for the latest financial news with

Sally. Publish and be damned ` the court hearing that could change the

way we use the internet forever. And fasten your seatbelts ` Lufthansa

could be in for a bumpy ride, as it unveils new cost`cutting plans.

Welcome to World Business Report. I'm Sally Bundock. Also in the

programme, we will look at high`level US China talks on cyber

crime. But first of all, it is a question of rights versus

responsibilities. Online news site Delfi thought it had the right to

protect the freedom of speech exercised by its users, even when

their comments proved defamatory. But an Estonian court ruled Delfi's

real responsibility was to vet anonymous comments before publishing

them. Today the European Court of Human Rights will make a final

ruling that could change the way we use the internet forever. The

Estonian capital, an EU state that prides itself on how it supports new

online ventures. Yet if the case determined there is upheld in the

grand chamber of the European Court of human rights, websites could be

forced to heavily censor comments by unnamed users be for they go live.

It could end the ability of readers to remain anonymous when they post

opinions. It is all over what has become a test case dating back to

2006. Delfi versus Estonia turns on a complaint from an owner defamed on

the website, which allows users to post anonymously. The site refused

to name the author of the comments, so the website itself was sued for

hosting the offending post, although it was taken down the day it

appeared. This comes hot on the heels of the EU's right to be

forgotten lore, giving people the right to have search results

hidden. Online, Europe seems to be turning in a very different

direction from most of the rest of the world, with Internet companies

under pressure to not just monitor comment at play judge and jury as to

whether it is lawful to publish it. Nigel Cassady, BBC News. Here to

discuss the issues at stake is technology journalist Rupert

Goodwins. What will the outcome be? It is a very difficult thing to say.

It was a perverse judgement in the first place. Most legal opinion I

have heard think it should be overturned. It is a remarkable

decision. If it does uphold the decision in the Estonian court, the

implications for the web? It will be very difficult to publish anonymous

comments of any sort. Anybody who allows people to put content on

their site, like Twitter, will have to hold back, it is to check they

are not defamatory before allowing them to be published. They will also

have to know the proper identity of everyone publishing, which is

extremely difficult to do. In terms of the sheer volume of comments, you

mentioned Twitter free sample, how on earth do you monitor that prior

to those comments being published? It is not physically possible. It is

not economically possible, it's not possible by any means. It is a very

strange decision from that point of view it will have to close down most

public discourse on the Internet and prevent anonymous discourse on the

Internet, which cannot believe is the court's intention. So if this

ruling is not upheld, what then would be the reasonable response of

a company in this situation where a defamatory or insightful comment is

posted on their site. There is a common practice, which is as soon as

you are informed about it, you take it down. That is what happened in

this case. It is then the responsibility of the person who

made the comment. Which is not perfect by any means, but it strikes

the best balance between freedom of expression on the Internet which is

incredibly important these days, and allowing people who are defamed

recourse. We have seen individuals being pursued, those who have put

through the comments. Absolutely, there are other ways to do it. And

the European guidelines, the European Court decision goes against

those guidelines. That makes it a very odd decision. Thank you for

your time. As soon as we hear more we will update you. The German

economy is booming, and more Germans are travelling than ever before. So

why are profits at the country's biggest airline, Lufthansa, in a

nosedive? Its new boss announces plans to restore the company's

fortunes later. Jeremy Howell reports. Last month, Lufthansa had

to cut its profit forecast for the next two years by a quarter. The

reason is it is being squeezed. On the one hand, Budget carriers like

easyJet have been undercutting it on price on flight within Europe. And

then there are the airlines from the Gulf Arab states like Etihad, which

have made moves into Europe recently to snap up a share of the market for

long haul flights to Asia. They have been buying stakes in Lufthansa's

local rival air Berlin, and in air Italia. In Germany there has been

speculation that Lufthansa itself might forge an alliance with an

airline from the Gulf, and expand its lucrative long haul business. Is

that worth a try? They seem to feel that if they were to join forces

with a Gulf carrier that would weaken the brand, and it would

certainly add complexity to the operation. They might have to give

away some of the financial upside, some of the profits, in the course

of forging such an alliance. So those are the disadvantages. The

advantages are of course that they are struggling to compete against

those carriers and it may be better for them to come to terms with

them, and to do so sooner rather than later. Its other recovery

option is to carry on doing what it has been doing for the past two

years, building up its no`frills subsidiary and trying to cut its

wage bill. This led to strikes earlier this year amongst staff.

Cost cuts are bound to prompt more strikes. But it may be the quickest

way that Lufthansa can turn itself around. In other news: BNP Paribas

will plead guilty to a charge of conspiracy in a New York court on

Wednesday. The guilty plea is part of a deal with the US department of

Justice. The French Bank was fined $9 billion for breaking US sanctions

against blacklisted countries such as Cuba. BNP Paribas has also

admitted filing false business records, and agreed to a temporary

ban on trading in US dollars. The record BNP fine is part of a

crackdown by US authorities on European banks who do business with

a select group of countries. US authorities are now turning their

attention to Germany's biggest lenders, Commerzbank and Deutsche.

According to the New York Times, Commerzbank could be fined at least

$500 million for transferring money on behalf of Sudan and Iran via its

US operations. Even God's bankers are no longer on the side of the

angels. The Vatican Bank is set to detail plans to overhaul its

business. It follows a series of scandals surrounding the financial

arm of the Roman Catholic Church, which wiped out most of its 70

million euro profit last year. It is expected to shut down its asset

investment division and concentrate on processing church payments. US

Treasury Secretary Jack Lew is in China for talks with his opposite

number Wang Yang. Top of the agenda will be cybercrime. Rico Hizon joins

us from our Asia business hub in Singapore. Nice to see you. Tell us

more about these discussions. Indeed, both sides want to resume

Corporation, Sally, on fighting cyber espionage. They were at

loggerheads several months ago over hacking and Internet spying

allegations, when Washington charged five Chinese military officers with

hacking US companies. China has denied any wrongdoing, and the

Treasury Secretary has said he will pressure the mainland for speedier

economic reforms, pushing them to move towards a more market exchange

rate system, and do more to let their currency rise against the US

dollar. And US officials are optimistic they can do the Chinese

exchange rate with a foreign process will have an effect. It will touch

on a bilateral investment treaty which the Americans hope will ease

of Beijing's restrictions, allowing for a more even playing field for

American companies. Energy is also on the agenda, both sides pooling

resources, aiming to improve ties. And leading an international push to

mitigate climate change. But Sally, when you talk to some analysts, they

are quite sceptical about these stocks. `` these talks. They don't

expect much will be achieved, as relations have become more complex

as China has grown in power. Thank you for your company. I will see you

soon as we look through the papers. The head of the influential

children's charity the NSPCC has told the BBC that people who cover

up child abuse should face criminal prosecution. Peter Wanless says he

hopes the government will change the law to achieve this. It is a