Kathleen Day and Caroline Mayer report for Sunday's Washington Post about the proposed changes in US bankruptcy law that are close to being approved by Congress.

The stated goal of the new legislation, which was pushed by the credit card, auto and retail industries, is to end abuse of the bankruptcy system. But many bankruptcy experts worry it will only add cost and red tape to the process of filing for bankruptcy and not necessarily curb abuse.

Vesta Corporation has announced an alliance with ChinaDotMan Co. Ltd. (see: www.9588.com) that includes an equity investment by Vesta.

ChinaDotMan has introduced a unique e-ticketing service that gives mobile users the ability to browse and book air tickets in real time using their cell phones. E-tickets are purchased through a user's credit card. 9588 provides an easy-to-use, complete service offering in the field of mobile payments.

The China Stock Blog takes a look at the issues surrounding ecommerce and payments in China.

What is impeding growth of Chinese online shopping? According to both Piper Jaffray and Taobao.com, it's not primitive online payment systems - as many have suggested. While payment systems may be inefficient, the greater challenge to growth in online shopping may lie elsewhere - especially in the near-term.

Earlier, Bill Bishop posted some of his thoughts on these questions - including links to recent presentations by TaoBao (PDF) and Alibaba (PPT).

We feel that the single biggest hurdle to the development of China's eCommerce market is the lack of trust when an agreed-upon transaction comes to the settlement stage - i.e. a buyer will refuse to send money before receiving the goods, and a seller will refuse to ship the goods before receiving money.  Because the Alibaba franchise represents trust in the minds of internet users, Alibaba is uniquely-positioned to offer its escrow-based payment solution AliPay.