Those are very harsh words. However, what he didn't mention was that YouTube has successfully signed a deal with a production company for artists like James Blunt or Madonna, and they continue to work with music companies on similar deals. Of course time will pass until they convince at least 20% of popular artists, so I am not sure how long they can finance the venture. YouTube can be an attractive investment if able to pay royalties for copyrighted material.

There were rumours NBC was one of the potential buyers, however, I don't think NBC shows Madonna videos and not paying the royalties on TV - I don't see them doing the same on the Net.