Typically the user of CGI is "nobody" right? Can "nobody" run a cron job? I did add some code to my CGI to shut down the sound, and it works fine on streams started from Apache, but as you implied, the cron started stream is unaffected.

I don't like polling for a file, seems inelegant. Rather have a push process.

The stream that I run from cron is permanent(or nearly so). It is the feed from my local NPR station, plays news until 9:00, then goes into really bad classical music, probably until 4:00.

Edit: Ok, answered my own question. Yes, "nobody" appears to be able to run a cron job. I moved my timed feed to be owned by "nobody" (discovered that I had to su into root, then from root to nobody). Hopefully I will be able to take better control now.