Permission Redux

Once again, I find myself replying to email with the following boilerplate response:

Hi – To ask for permission to link to a resource on my site or anywhere on the web demonstrates a fundamental misunderstanding of what the web is, how it is built, and what makes it work. I decline permission because it is not mine to give. On the other hand, if you do not ask me, then of course you have permission — that’s the way it’s supposed to work. If people had to ask permission every time they linked to something, the web would never have come to exist, would never operate as an open exchange of ideas and information. Imagine if every synapse in your brain had to ask permission to make a connection with any other synapse. If something is online, you are free to link to it, end of story. Please read this for more information.