PL2303 is a Prolific serial driver for devices that need to convert USB to good old fashioned serial and use a Prolific chip to do it (like USB to serial cables etc)
I'm Just wondering if you're running Lion as an upgrade over an existing install of earlier version of OSX?
I think the 'PL2303 project' kext had to be updated for compatibility with Lion, in which case if you're running Lion with an old PL2303 kext still in there that could well be the problem