The affirmation that Microsoft is right on track to copying YouTube belongs to none other than the Internet video sharing service's CEO Chad Hurley. As YouTube has set new standards for Web video content, serving in excess of 100.000.000 videos per day correlated with skyrocketing audience statistics, Internet's household names jumped at the chance to deliver similar services hungering for a marker share. In this context Google, Yahoo and AOL have already introduced YouTube-like Websites, but with little success. On a first come first served basis, YouTube has built not only an innovative idea but also a large and dedicated fan base that is attracting additional audience like a magnet, growing with an estimated rate of 5.5 million unique visitors each week.

At the AlwaysOn Network summit Wednesday at Stanford University on 26 July, 2006, the 29-year-old YouTube chief executive Chad Hurley has responded to a query about Microsoft' alleged intentions to buy YouTube commenting that the Redmond Company has no such intentions. When asked to comment a statement belonging to Bill Gates in which Microsoft's co-founder was quoted denying the potential acquisition of YouTube due to all the copyright infringement materials posted on the site, Hurley responded: "It's interesting to hear his perspective. After all they are trying to build a clone of our service."

There were indeed speculations that the Redmond Company would launch a Windows Live Video service to compete with YouTube, Google Video, Yahoo Video and AOL Video, but Hurley's statement is more than a derogatory comment addressing Microsoft's "cloning" strategies, but also a confirmation on Microsoft next move in a field of clip culture revolutionized by YouTube.