Internet regulation by the government is opposed by 57 percent of voters in the United States, according to a new poll, many students at California State East Bay agree.

“The Internet is essentially a ‘free market’ in the sense that we do not have too many limitations on what we can search for and how we communicate through it,” said Andrea Costa, a Communication major, “The Internet could possibly turn into a monopoly if there were government regulations.”

The poll, presented by Broadband for America, and includes members from AT&T and Verizon Wireless, did not use the words “net neutrality,” but did ask about “open Internet.” Net neutrality is the concept that has been assigned to keeping the Internet open to those who pay to use the services.

“The Internet should be as open as possible,” said Aaron Gacias, a pre-med student, “We have the right to know what we would like. Information is open to anyone and that is how it should be on the Internet.”

The “current approach” of Internet regulation was preferred by 63 percent, compared with only 30 percent wanting additional government intervention, the poll said.

The Net Neutrality Bill presented in the House of Representatives in Congress has been designed to preserve the “neutrality” of the Internet.

“The Net Neutrality Bill is doing a number of things to keep our Internet from regulation by the government and wireless broadband providers,” said Kerry Callahan, a Nursing student. “The bill is trying to make it so that the FCC is the one with the power to regulate the Internet.”

Net neutrality is the basis that keeps the Internet free, say Save the Internet advocates. The word “neutral” alludes to the fact that all Internet content, access, traffic, etc. should be the same for all users.

“I feel like the current Internet is correct,” said Nick Schreiber, an industrial engineering major, “No one should have the right to censor what other people see. Who gets to make that decision for me? I am totally capable of making that decision on my own.”

Net neutrality also means that Internet service providers should not discriminate regarding content is being made available, said Michael Weinberg and John Bergmayer of the Public Knowledge project.

Those opposing net neutrality include Verizon Wireless, AT&T, Comcast, and Time Warner Cable, said the Center for Democracy and Technology. These companies argue that they should be able to make money from deals with content and application providers.