Mike Daisey’s Steve Jobs monologue released under an open license

Mike Daisey has made his critically acclaimed monologue “The Agony and the Ecstasy of Steve Jobs” available free of charge under an open license. The move means that anyone who wants to perform or adapt the play for performance can do so without paying royalties. The monologue focuses on the trials and tribulations of Chinese workers through the eyes of Steve Jobs, and is set against the background of his turbulent journey with Apple. The play was adapted to radio for This American Life last month, and the timing of the open licensing seems particularly pertinent with Apple’s foreign labor practices facing increasing scrutiny from the mass media. Daisey recently posted a critique of the ABC Nightline investigation on his blog, concluding that “Apple is reacting here to public pressure, and we can not afford the luxury of believing that anything happening now would happen without that pressure. We must not relent.”