A ram is a Live Stream of audio (RA) being fed into the web box. Real Audio (rams) were NOT designed for email !!! They were designed for Website pages.

When used in email, with autostart they tend to FREEZE UP a lot of webtv boxes, and have to unplug the unit to get out of the freeze-up!
This is detrimental to the box!!!

Rams effect both the Webtv Classic and the Webtv Plus box.
You can make a lot of enemies freezing up people's webtv box with a ram!!!

And embeded autostarted rams in email can cause a computer to crash, also.

The reason for the problem is because of loading time and pace.
While loading, the RA live stream is by no means consistent. It loads in a series of short bursts. You get a burst of data here and there. Sometimes several short bursts can arrive at the same time, and this overwhelms the browser causing it to crash!

A lot of people have had their web box damaged beyond repair due to autostarted rams in email!

Also, when you try to use Real Audio, you are actually STEALING the hosts expensive bandwidth!!!

They are designed to be ONLY played on the Hosts Website! ( usually by clicking on )

When a ram is playing, the bandwidth flows for the entire duration of the ram. Whereas, when a midi is loaded the bandwidth ends and the midi can be looped over and over with no further bandwidth usage.

A lot of fine Real Audio Host have had their site shut down because of bandwidth theft to the tune of several thousands of dollars per month!

But if you insist on using a ram in your email, you should make it a clickable link and label it RAM as a courtesy and consideration to those who read your post/email.

<form method="get" action="http://URL of ram"> <input type="submit" value="Caution! ram! On/Off"> </form>

And you CANNOT transload Real Audio!
If you try to transload a ram, you are actually just transloading a REFERENCE pointer file (PNM strip) that links to the actual LIVE STREAM HOST!

Don't believe me? Do this:

Transload a ram to geocities, tripod, or angelfire.
Now go into the file maniger and get the URL.
Take the URL to a "Source viewer" and it will show you the actual Live Stream host that the ram is on.
If it was actually on your host, it would give YOUR host's name.

Transloading is: making a COPY of a file and storing that copy in your files.
You would need a host that has "Real Audio server software" installed on your site to be able to have Real Audio (very expensive!)

Midi files are harmless, also wavs, but wavs have a very large file size and take longer to load. Mod files are ok.