News Summary: Former star encourages entrepreneurs

MEET HORIE: Takafumi Horie, the Japanese dot.com celebrity imprisoned for nearly two years on securities fraud charges, is cooking up dozens of ventures and demanding the nation reduce regulation to give more opportunities to young entrepreneurs.

WHAT'S COOKING: Horie, 40, has already announced several new business plans, including most recently a social media app "7gogo," a celebrity group-talk platform similar to Google's Hangout services, except subscribers monitor conversations among famous people.

THE BACKGROUND: Japan under Prime Minister Shinzo Abe has embarked on an ambitious attempt to break its economy out of two decades of stagnation. So far, though, the government has done little to encourage entrepreneurs and risk taking.