One benefit often expected to flow from Internet use in schools is an increase in equality of educational opportunity as all kinds of schools gain access to the same extraordinary set of resources and opportunities for interaction with the outside world. Yet, prior research suggests that patterns of technology access often mirror existing inequalities rather than mitigate them. This paper discusses the issues pertinent to equality of Internet access that arose in NET (Networking for Education Testbed), a project bringing the Internet to a large urban school district. The major data-gathering methods used in this research were qualitative observations, semi-structured interviews, and archival material. It is concluded that numerous factors, including the perception of Internet use as an optional privilege, the use of Internet access as a "carrot" to shape student behavior in desired ways, and many teachers' lack of familiarity with the Internet and computing more generally, resulted in greater access for students who were already ahead of their peers academically and/or with regard to knowledge of computing. (Contains 23 references.) (Author/MES)