In a recent study of 1,056 people in the U.S., the Ponemon Institute LLC, an independent research group in Elk Rapids, Mich., found that 47 percent of the respondents said search companies shouldn't let governments restrict their residents' online content searches; 40 percent said search engine companies should follow the laws set by each country. Another 13 percent were unsure.

Larry Ponemon, founder and chairman of the institute and a Computerworld columnist, said he is surprised by the results.

"I'm really intrigued by censorship because here we create this huge Internet, then some countries want to decide who sees what," he said. "I would have expected more people would think that censorship is a bad thing. I think people just don't understand these concepts."

Also disturbing, he said, is that the results were roughly equal. "The fact that people don't feel more strongly [about censorship] is disturbing," Ponemon said. "It's hard to understand how people rationalize it."

He noted that respondents who didn't oppose censorship said the Chinese government could use more restrictive Internet content providers if U.S. companies don't follow their laws -- something Ponemon said could cause more harm to Web surfers in China.