OK, so this is more AFTRA’s worry than SAG’s, but the bottom line is the same. And, by the way, we think one part of the story is wrong - our note on that is at the bottom.

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Ex-Beatle Paul McCartney and
Guns N’ Roses released their biggest hits on vinyl records and
compact discs, but on Thursday, their new albums will debut
online on MySpace.
Users of MySpace, the world’s largest social network on the
Internet, will be able to listen for free to “Electric
Arguments,” the new album by McCartney’s side-project group The
Fireman, and “Chinese Democracy,” the long-delayed album by
hard rock band Guns N’ Roses, before the songs are in stores
and at online shops like Amazon.com.
Members of News Corp-owned MySpace will be able to
play the songs on the bands’ MySpace pages, but they will not
be able to download them onto their computers.
Geffen Records plans to exclusively release “Chinese
Democracy” on Nov. 23 in the United States at consumer
electronics chain Best Buy Co Inc. Most of its tracks
have already shown up in various forms, including pirated
versions on the Internet.
“Electric Arguments” is due to be released on Nov. 25. Fans
can also order songs from that album, but not songs from
“Chinese Democracy”, through MySpace Music.
MySpace Music is a joint venture with Vivendi’s
Universal Music Group, Sony Music and Warner Music
Group

Here’s the part that’s wrong. The companies have to know that there are plenty of audio recorders and capture programs that will record the songs as they’re played on a computer. Even if it’s technically not a download, we think the file sharing/piracy problem isn’t solved by this kind of release - it’s probably made worse.