Multicast communication and recent advances in optical technology, most specifically in Wavelength Division Multiplexing (WDM), allied with the consolidation of IP as the dominant protocol of convergent networks, offer new perspectives for the next generation Internet. This thesis utilises these technologies to propose a set of adaptations, called MIRROR, to multicast communication, specifically IP Multicast, in labelled burst-switched optical networks. MIRROR proposes modifications to traditional IP Multicast in order to improve its scalability as a function of the number of simultaneously active groups, as well as making it more appropriate for use in optically switched networks. Basically, MIRROR includes new proposals for handling state information about the multicast distribution tree, as well as for the establishment of label-based multicast paths. In order to evaluate this proposal, two approaches are followed, one based on a comparative analysis between MIRROR and a number of other alternatives to IP Multicast proposed in the literature, and the other based on the implementation of a prototype in the simulation environment provided by NS (Network Simulator). The comparative analysis evaluates such parameters as: state requirement information, control overhead, packet processing efficiency and tree cost. The prototype implementation implements a new node structure and alters existing NS modules (OBS e MPLS), to make possible the simulation of labelled burst-switched optical networks in the multicast context.