14 DAY TRIAL // Right now is just a rumor. But the speculations surrounding a potential acquisition of YouTube by Google have increasingly gained consistency. Partly because - as it happens with all rumors - once they reache a certain level of propagation it also generates an aura of authenticity. But the news that Google will put forward $1.6 billion for YouTube is just a rumor and nothing more. Time may either confirm the speculation or prove that it was unsubstantiated.
Recently, on the subject of a YouTube acquisition or a public offering, Mark Cuban, co-founder of HDNet and owner of the NBA's Dallas Mavericks commented that only a moron would buy YouTube, because of the ensuing legal problems over copyright infringement. At this time, both Google and YouTube have neither confirmed nor denied the speculations. Google, valued at $125 billion, does have about $10 billion in cash to throw around, but the Mountain View Company has not announced any additional investments in 2006, and certainly a $1.6 billion acquisition is not something to go quiet and under the rug.
On the same page, YouTube has been carrying out negotiations for acquisition and also the possibility of a public offering has been thrown around, but until the video entertainment website doesn't resolve its legal issues with the sharing and hosting of copyrighted content, it is unlikely that YouTube will change its present status.