[originaltext]Host: In New York today, a prestigious business research group a

Host:  In New York today, a prestigious business research group announced the results of the first
    ever Consumer Internet Barometer, a survey that assesses what Americans do online. Since the
    Internet came into the mainstream, the number of people accessing it has grown exponentially.
    Today, nearly 150 million people use it in the United States alone. But what are all of these
    people doing in cyber-space?
    Lynn Franco of the Conference Board, the New York-based center for business research that
    carried out the survey, says the first report yields a clear answer.
Voice: The main driver to the Intemet really is personal communication and personal research. Those
    are the top two reasons why people use the Internet.
Host:  Ms. Franco says that much of the research people do leads to online purchases, which continue
    to increase. More consumers than ever are shopping on the information highway--but, she
    says, not without reservations.
Voice: Almost two thirds of all consumers have been online, and you know that only a third have
    never gone online. And that while we see an increase in the level of satisfaction now among
    users, trust is really a hovering at a low rate, and still remains an issue.
Host:  Online consumers remain concerned that their transactions and personal information might
    be intercepted by a malicious third party. Still, Ms. Franco says, the percentage of consumers
    spending more than $250 online per quarter is up three percent from last year. The Consumer
    Internet Barometer is based on a survey of 10,000 U.S. households, and will be published
    quarterly.