Earlier this month, WBRS silenced its Internet broadcast because new regulations imposed this summer in an expansion of the 1995 Digital Performance Rights Act require webcasters to pay royalties per song broadcasted. Before Sept. 6, WBRS aired its live broadcasts via the Internet on www.live365.com. WBRS and thousands of other college radio stations nationwide say they cannot afford these fees which would be retroactive to 1998, meaning that just to webcast, stations would have to not only pay for current songs aired but pay fees dating back several years.

Under the U.S. Copyright Office, the Copyright Arbitration Royalty Panel (CARP), which regulation of webcasting, has requested also extensive information about every song that is broadcast on the Internet. Critics of the new policy say it creates extra work for disc jockeys, adding to the infeasibility of continuing broadcasts under the new regulations.

Meanwhile, independent webcasters and small radio stations nationwide are fighting CARP's decision and lobbying to have the decision lessened or repealed entirely.

"We're always trying to find ways to reach more people . the web was an easy and efficient way to reach a vast number of people across the world," WBRS General Manager Mark Brescia '04 said.

Brescia said webcasting was also a way to expand their listener base because on the airwaves, WBRS can only reach a few miles around the Boston area. "We do anything we can to expand our listener-ship, and this was one of our greatest tools," Technical Director Josh Segal '03 said.

"The fact that our webcast has turned off has not diminished the quality of out air whatsoever," Brescia said, adding that WBRS is unchanged.

"We have different shows with different programs that try to serve the communities . part of serving those communities was broadcasting on the Internet," Segal said.

Segal said that artists who do not have big names yet relied on the Internet to get their music heard. "Many of our artists we play are out more for expanding listenership than (for) royalty fees," Segal said.

"It's disappointing to us, that as a small college with a radio station, we want to go out, broadcast our games and do what we do, and it's sad to see some of our listeners unable to tune in," Brescia said.

- Michaela May contributed to this article.