By Richard Koman for SiliconValleyWatcher

The government dropped all obstruction-of-justice charges against Frank Quattrone yesterday, and he doesn't have to admit culpability. All he has to do is stay out of trouble for a year. The Chronicle has Valley insiders going ga-ga over the news. Frank McNamee: "The US economy needs people like Frank Quattrone." Mark Lehmann of JMP Securities: "People are getting excited about the possibility that we may have a chance to revive the tech market."

And the Mercury has VC Bill Burnham: "Out here in Silicon Valley, I don't think there's anybody who is not going to welcome him with open arms, and there's a tremendous amount of sympathy. I think he can do whatever he wants to do.''

Not a good thing, says Dan Gillmor : "The record is clear enough that Quattrone and his "Friends of Frank" did disgraceful things. Now he'll be back to a hero's welcome. Sadly, that speaks speaks volumes about the valley."

BusinessWeek's Peter Burrows sees it as a sign of government impotence:

If a supposedly strong case against Quattrone ended with such a wimper, what does the future hold for companies currently implicated in the stock options scandal? It's a safe bet that most of the 80 or so companies that face federal probes will never result in anything approaching what Quattrone faced--no criminal charges, grand jury indictments, even a conviction later overturned on appeal. Most of those companies will restate their earnings, and in some cases pay a penalty to settle civil charges from the SEC