The Beastie Boys [ tickets ] will launch their 1999 tour February 2nd in Japan, performing a month of Asian, Australian and New Zealand dates. Likewise, a month-long European tour will commence in mid-April, beginning in Germany and routing the band through northern Europe and the UK before circling back to finish in Germany. In addition to the tour, the Beasties are working with the Milarepa Fund on initial plans for the next Tibetan Freedom Concert event.

While visiting MTV recently to debut the band's Body Movin' video, Beastie member Adam Yauch said that he envisioned the next Tibetan Freedom Concert becoming a global effort, with shows being staged simultaneously in several parts of the world. ''Actually, [we're] trying to organize it so it's can be in four different countries on the same day,'' Yauch told MTV. ''We're looking at doing one in the United States in Chicago, one probably in Amsterdam, one in Sydney, Australia and one in Tokyo, Japan. I guess the idea is to get more of a global focus on the Tibet situation.''

The Beasties' first US tour in support of Hello Nasty sold out most tour stops, opening the door to consideration of a second run, which is reportedly in the works. The new US tour is expected to route, at least partially, through outdoor amphitheatres in the spring / summer.

The Beasties have also become involved in the controversy over downloadable music that is increasingly putting artists at odds with their own record labels. A number of MP3 tracks from the band's recent North American tour were recently removed from the band's official web site at the insistence of their label, Capitol Records, and replaced with lower-quality RealAudio versions of the songs.

Capitol is part of an assembled group of major labels who have banded together to create new controls and technologies that will allow labels to police and regulate downloadable music between artists and fans.

Here's the latest itinerary for the Beastie Boys: