Internet scholars and high-tech business leaders said the future of the Web probably won't be as open as it is today, where users can access any information they choose and often for free. Instead, some experts envisioned a future in which walled gardens proliferated or users called for tailored Web experiences where they were willing to pay more for certain services.

In a survey released Friday titled "The Future of the Internet" by Pew Internet & American Life Project, about 900 respondents made those and other projections about the Internet landscape of 2020.

Of the academics from MIT and NYU, economists and technologists from Cisco, Verizon and Google and several think tanks, some warned that the so-called net neutrality principle appeared at risk. That idea is that network operators such as AT&T, Comcast and even foreign governments treat all Web traffic equally, without prioritizing or charging more for particular applications. The Federal Communications Commission is crafting rules aimed at that goal. Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton said the administration would fight to keep free speech and free access to information on the Internet available around the globe.

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