CNetNews.com writes that “

[o]n Monday, reports surfaced that business social network LinkedIn is likely looking to raise a round of venture capital (rather than find a corporate parent).  TechCrunch reports that investment bank Allen & Co. is hoping to help LinkedIn pull in that funding at a $1 billion valuation.  Spearheading the campaign is Dave Wehner, managing director of the Bay Area bank, who was reportedly a big part of Bebo’s $850 million sale to AOL.”

AFP reports that “Microsoft founder and chairman Bill Gates has unveiled a plan to invest 147 million dollars in South Korea over five years to strengthen his company’s presence here, officials said Tuesday.  Gates promised to invest the sum in the auto, education and other fields during talks with President Lee Myung-Bak, the president’s office said in a statement.  He also said Microsoft would strengthen its partnership with South Korea’s government and enterprises, describing South Korea as a crucial business partner, it said.”

According to the Los Angeles Times, “New York Attorney General Andrew Cuomo on Monday announced the latest effort to stiffen New York’s anti-film-piracy laws.  In a news conference attended by actress Tina Fey, NBC Universal President Jeff Zucker and Dan Glickman, chief executive of the Motion Picture Assn. of America, Cuomo said 50% of all illegally recorded movies are pirated in New York, costing the state millions of dollars and thousands of jobs.”

In a different article, the Los Angeles Times points out that “[i]n the now-suspended takeover fight between software titan Microsoft Corp. and Internet poster child Yahoo Inc., the winner was a heckler in the audience.  The combined companies could have created a formidable challenger to Google Inc., but the Web search king helped scuttle the deal by complaining about the potential effect on competition and by tossing Yahoo a lifeline in the form of an advertising partnership.”

Inc.com reveals that “with inflation surging in China and the weak dollar, Chinese companies are now looking to America as a place where it is affordable and desirable to set up production facilities.”