*Authorities at New York's Clinton Correctional Facility have revoked phone privileges and cut off in-person interviews for jailed rapper Shyne while they investigate whether he may have violated prison rules in making about 100 phone calls.

Shyne, a.k.a. Jamal Barrow, has been handling bid'ness from behind the wall for a good minute. While on lockdown, the MC signed a $3 million record deal with Island Def Jam and even recorded part of his new album, "Godfather Buried Alive," over the phone.

MTV featured a one-on-one interview with him in an hour-long special, the "New York Times" conducted a phone interview, and he's on the cover of the September issue of "Vibe," sporting his dark-green prison uniform.

It's Shyne's phone use that troubles prison officials. Under New York law, prisoners can't call cell phones, have calls transferred to another party, conduct business over the phone or call reporters not on their designated media list.

An investigation indicates Barrow did all of those things and provided phony names on his designated call list, said James Flateau, a state Department of Correctional Services spokesman.

"If a call is transferred to a cell phone, we have no idea who that call is going to or where that person is," Flateau told AP. "In a post-Sept.11 world, we'd like to know who inmates are talking to."

If an investigation shows Barrow was doing business over the phone before his newly released CD, state law would allow victims of his crime to sue for compensation. Prison officials claim that Shyne discussed the marketing and promotion of his work with Def Jam.

New York's Son of Sam law prevents convicts from profiting from their crimes.

Source: EURWeb