Nearly half of those surveyed in a Zogby Interactive online survey - 44% - said that the federal government should guarantee universal Internet access to all Americans, and 20% said they believe Washington should provide personal computers to those who do not have one so they can access the Internet.

For many, access to the Internet is a key to success in their careers - 71% agreed that those with Internet access are more likely than those without to be successful.

The online Zogby survey was conducted May 29 - June 1, 2009, and included 3,030 respondents. It carries a margin of error of +/- 1.8 percentage points. Zogby International is a leader in online survey research, having first pioneered the process in 1998. Analysis of Zogby's online political polling has shown it to be as reliable as traditional telephone polling, and is becoming more popular by the month as more Americans join the Zogby interactive panel of possible respondents. That panel, from which random samples of poll respondents are drawn, numbers in the hundreds of thousands and closely mirrors the U.S. population at large.

On the question of Washington guaranteeing universal Internet access, adults of all ages were largely in agreement on the question, with 47% of those under age 30 and 43% of those age 65 and older favoring such a guarantee. However, there were stark differences on this topic between political ideologies. Among liberals, nearly four out of five - 78% - said they think the government should make sure everyone can get online, while just 17% of conservatives said the same thing. Among conservatives, 68% "strongly disagreed" with the idea.

There is less enthusiasm among both liberals and conservatives for the government to be handing out personal computers to all Americans who do not now have them so that they could surf the Internet. Among liberals, 40% said they favor a government give-away of computers, while just 7% of conservatives felt the same way. On this question, there was a bit of difference based on age of the respondents - as 28% of those under age 30 favor the federal government providing computers to those without, while just 19% of those age 65 and older felt the same way.

And, as leaders in Washington begin talking about universal access to health care, 14% said that, given a choice between that and universal Internet access, they would prefer Internet access. The overwhelming majority of 64% said they think access to health care would be more important to them.

 Internet on the Brain?

Asked if it were possible for them to have the Internet wired directly into their brains, 13% said they would like to do so, while 82% said they would decline such an opportunity. On this question there is a significant difference between the generations - as 24% of those under age 30 would go for such an idea, but only 8% of those age 65 or older would do so. A similar question asked by Zogby in October, 2007, showed that 11% said they would be willing to safely implant a device into their brain that would allow them to directly access the Internet.

Should Washington Preside Over the Internet? 

But for all the support for government intervention to see that all Americans have access to surf the web, the survey shows there is a decided opposition to government intervention when it comes to regulating who may or may not be allowed to establish a website. Just 12% said the U.S. government should sometimes or always be allowed to determine who can establish a website. And, as the broadband industry begins to offer different speeds of Internet service to different customers, poll respondents said they did not want the government involved in determining who should get fast and who should get slow service - just four percent said they think Washington should be involved in determining who gets what speed of Internet connection, while 87% said the government should never be involved in that decision.

There is, however, a sizable national appetite for federal government intervention on the Internet when domestic websites feature objectionable content. Nearly two-thirds - 63% - said Washington regulators ought to be able to shut down websites that use possible terrorist themes or that promote child pornography. Another 22% said it should rarely be allowed to do so, while 12% said the U.S. government should never be allowed to intervene to cut off such sites.

On a related note, the overwhelming majority of American adults said the Internet should be a tax-free zone because it was established and has to date mostly been a home to the liberal exchange of ideas and products without government interference.