Internet radiocasters in the Live365 system received a notice from the host company: "The RIAA has been in touch with us recently to let us know that they have found a number of stations that are not compliant on the service. If stations continue to operate out of compliance, we will reserve the right to shut them down or otherwise restrict access." Of course, Live365 has no choice in this matter; they have to play by Webcast industry rules. What are those rules? They are preposterous, and radically different from broadcast radio's rules:

    *   The webcast is not limited to particular users who pay for it (that's the ``non-subscription'' part.)
    * The user must not be able to choose and receive a particular recording: that is, no playing songs on demand.
    * In a three hour period, you can't play more than three tracks from a given album, and no more than two consecutively.
    * In a three hour period, you can't play more than four tracks by a given artist, and no more than three consecutively.
    * If the webcast is archived, the archive must be at least five hours long, and must not be made available for more than two weeks. The idea here is to make it hard for users to scan through the webcast to pick out and save individual songs.
    * If the webcast repeats itself (plays in a loop) then the loop must be at least three hours long.
    * The webcast must not publish prior announcements of the songs: you can't let the users know what songs are coming up next, and you can't publish your playlists ahead of time.
    * You must identify the song title, album title, and the featured artist in text during the performance of the song.
    * You must not "encourage'' users to copy or record the music that you are playing, and you must "disable copying by users if in possession of technology capable of doing so.''

So, by moving against one of the most terrific distribution mechanisms for music of all sorts, the RIAA will attempt hammer another nail in the labels' coffin.