Technology: Class dispute hits Islington `cyberstreet'

Microsoft has been accused of discriminating against council tenants in favour of white middle-class residents in the creation of its "cyberstreet" in Islington, north London. The result would be to create a division between cyber-haves and have-nots - determined by who already has the equipment.

Robyn Heaton, who lives on the street, yesterday said the experiment, in which 30 people were given telephone connections and subscriptions to the Internet via Microsoft, and in some cases free computers, was invalid because it did not represent the diversity of people in the street. "I'm a council tenant, and when they sent the letters around in February, I didn't get one. But I was really excited, so I rang up and they said they wanted a diverse street. But then all they asked was my name, and said that they were overwhelmed with responses."

She said that when she asked other council tenants and housing-association residents, she found they had not been invited to take part either.

Judy Gibbons, head of the Microsoft Network, said Microsoft had sent letters to all 80 homes in the street and received 34 replies. There were 30 places on the scheme and 15 people who already had computers were automatically accepted. "The only basis for the other selection was picking names out of a hat," she said.

The experiment began in March and was recently extended from six months to a year.

Ms Heaton said the experiment cannot be a valid measure of what the wider population will want from computers and the Internet - Microsoft's declared aim from the cyberstreet trial - because it was biased towards people who already had a computer, and against council tenants.

The cost of the technology - up to pounds 1,000 for a computer - represents a barrier that many lower-paid people find insuperable. But Fred Eagle, a council tenant, yesterday said his family was taking part in the trial, and that some middle-class people were not included.

- Charles Arthur, Science Editor