The Grateful Dead [ tickets ] have taken a stand in the long-simmering debate over rights to distribute live recordings of their performances via MP3 downloads. In a policy statement issued Tuesday (5/10), the band's lawyers have barred MP3 distribution of their material by any site that pursues commercial gain.

The official policy follows a crackdown on the Astrojams web site, which was contacted by legal reps for the Dead nearly two weeks ago and asked to remove their Dead files when it was discovered that they sold advertising on their web pages. Dead reps followed up this week, asking the site to also remove all Jerry Garcia Band files.

Astrojams was gracious to the Dead camp as it notified their visitors of the situation. A news posting on the site said, ''Unfortunatly, it looks like Astrojams will no longer be able to distribute shows due to our use of banners, which partially offset the cost's associated with the ftp server. It is certainly fantastic to know that GDP will still allow people to trade shows and keep this incredible music flowing for a long time.''

Dead lawyer Eric Doney pointed out that the MP3 policy applies only to live recordings. ''The Grateful Dead will continue to aggressively prosecute any web site operators or any other businesses trafficking in Grateful Dead studio recordings, which are protected under U.S. copyright laws,'' Doney said in Tuesday's written statement.

The MP3 file format allows users to compress audio files to sizes easily transmitted across the Internet with minimal degradation in sound quality. The format has gained a huge following among Internet music traders because once downloaded, files can be replayed at any time from a computer hard drive, burned onto CD's to create custom collections or passed along to others.

The widespread distribution of MP3 files has prompted collective resistance from record labels who claim to be losing millions due to unauthorized distribution of their recordings. Currently, three of the world's five major label conglomerates have announced plans to launch their own versions of compressed audio files, all expected to feature playback limits and distribution controls.

Meanwhile, Dead fans will have new opportunities to feed live recordings into the Dead trading pipeline with the announcement of brief tour schedules for both Mickey Hart's Planet Drum and Bob Weir's Ratdog.