I want to record audio off the internet onto my laptop.  I have the software that can record the audio, but it seems I must need some sort of device/hardware.

My laptop does enable me to record audio BUT it records straight from the mircophone which is not what I want.  I want the audio to be recorded straight from the net.

There only seems to be one 'recording input channel' which is the inbuilt microphone, so the only way I can record audio from the internet is by having the speakers up loud and the microphone volume high which sounds dreadful when you listen back to it!!!  It also picks up background noises!

How do you prevent this?  Do I need some sort of device to be able to record straight from the internet not via the microphone?

Any suggestions?