The Wall Street Journal reveals that “

[a]s bankruptcy filings ramp up amid the world-wide financial crisis, companies are finding that changes made to the U.S. Bankruptcy Code three years ago have made it more difficult to restructure. But some experts believe relief could be on the way.  U.S. lawmakers are scrambling to find a way to revive the economy and the businesses that drive it amid the recession. Revamped laws designed to make the restructuring process kinder to struggling companies may be seen as part of the solution, bankruptcy experts say.  Such changes may provide ‘a mechanism by which people and businesses can begin economic life anew,’ said Jack Williams, resident scholar at the nonpartisan American Bankruptcy Institute.  ‘Politically, the winds are right for revisiting bankruptcy law.’”

Yahoo!Tech warns that “[h]ackers are using dozens of fake websites linked to Barack Obama's inauguration as US president to spread a virus on the Internet.  According to the firm Panda Security, more than 70 websites are running a bogus news story titled ‘Barack Obama has refused to be a president,’ aimed at tricking Internet users into downloading the computer virus.”

Silicon Valley Watcher has an interesting post discussing whether Obama’s CTO should come from the Northern California innovation hub.

CNet.com has an article pointing out that “Obama inauguration traffic was not good for everyone.  While dozens of social and media Web sites saw high or record traffic on President Obama's Inauguration Day, not all Web sites shared the wealth. At least one commercial online hosting service saw its customers take a beating during the ceremony. MerchantCircle (review), which hosts small business Web sites, saw a dramatic drop in traffic to its sites. Once the meat of the inauguration started to wind down, though, it looks like people went back to their usual browsing and buying behaviors.” 

In a different article, CNet.com writes that, according to a new report from Virtual Worlds Management, “[v]irtual world and supporting companies raised more than $594 million in 2008.  […]   While this represents a small portion of total venture dollars, there are some large deals ($100 million and $70 million), as well as ones typical of early-stage companies ($500,000 to $4 million).”  So, seemingly, “investors still have an appetite to provide money. The fourth quarter saw $101 million in investment, with Gofish, Playfish, and Playspan grabbing $22.5 million, $17 million, and $16 million, respectively