Although 60 percent of those surveyed said rules for governing the Internet should be mostly developed and enforced by the private sector, 64 percent also said that "government should develop rules to protect people" on the Internet.
Baird, who has been working with standard-making bodies and world governments to establish forums in which companies, governments, nonprofit groups and public representatives can be heard on questions of Internet policy, said the report reinforced the need to build that constituency before an "online oil spill" alienates the public.
But not everyone agrees that the Internet needs more regulation. Esther Dyson, the former chairman of the Internet Corp for Assigned Names and Numbers, or ICANN, the agency that controls the Internet address system, said that users, not a governing body, could best govern the Internet, through which Web sites they visit and which goods they buy.
"I've found people want democracy, but they're often unwilling to do the work, whether it's looking at voting records or taking the most basic measures to protect their own privacy," said
Dyson, who serves on a committee that is trying to increase public representation in ICANN. "Frankly, sometimes you don't need democracy. You need a market where people understand what's being offered and choose what they want."
Still, both positions could be heard in the response of a young focus-group participant from Syosset, New York, when asked who should make the rules that govern the Internet. "We should," the participant said. "The people."
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