USA - 57% of a survey did not support regulation of the Internet - for AT&T and Verizon

[pcworld] Fifty-seven percent of likely voters in the U.S. don't support any Internet regulation by the federal government, according to a new survey released by Broadband for America, an advocacy group with members including AT&T and Verizon Communications.

AT&T and other groups opposed to the U.S. Federal Communications Commission's ongoing effort to enact network neutrality rules pointed to the survey as evidence that the agency should not proceed with rules prohibiting broadband providers from selectively blocking or slowing Web traffic.

The Broadband for America poll didn't specifically mention the words "net neutrality," although it did ask a question about the "open Internet."

The poll asked if respondents thought the best way to ensure an open Internet is to "continue the current approach that has brought us the Internet we have today," through competition, not increased regulation. As an alternative, the poll asked if respondents preferred "additional government rules and oversight in place to ensure that Internet service providers are acting in the best interests of consumers" and not discriminating against Web content and competing services.

Sixty-three percent of respondents said they preferred the "current approach," while 30 percent said they wanted additional government rules.

The survey, of 800 likely voters, also found that 76 percent of respondents agreed that the Internet is currently working very or fairly well, Broadband for America said.

Survey Says US Public Doesn't Support Internet Regulation