As I noted in today’s Morning News and as Line Out reported yesterday, the RIAA’s big case against music downloading went to trial yesterday.

Here’s an early verdict … from Wallstreet. Investors are not happy about the music indstury’s lawsuit business plan—especially when damning articles like these (a must read!) start showing up on popular investment web sites.

Indeed, says the Motley Fool:

Some lawsuits have proven ridiculous from the outset, targeting computer-illiterates and dead people, or accusing grandmothers of downloading gangsta rap. Others have been dismissed for a lack of evidence against the purported file-sharers. Nearly every standard weapon in the recording industry’s legal arsenal has been proven ineffectual at best, and unconstitutional at worst.

It’s about time for the Luddite music business to come around to the new realities of the media market. They’ve spent a lot of money on payola to get their chosen mainstream fodder played on the radio. If the computer is the new radio, why should they spend even more money and effort trying to stop that music from being played for free?

Thanks, Techdirt and Motley Fool.