I think it's a mistake to see the Internet as a realm of freedom. It can in no way be pure of the realities its users bring to their virtual encounters. The Internet doesn't strike me as the great equalizer. There's differential access to the Net, which is a matter of hardware, skill and time, all of which are unequally distributed not only globally but within affluent enclaves. I'm not sure I think it particularly promotes inequality either.
Some effects are ambiguous.
On the one hand it allows for faster and wider communication between oppositional groups, and helps organize protests like Seattle. On the other hand, there are increased possibilities of surveillance. And Bill Gates has made a lot of money, so more concentration of wealth and power. It's probably more true to say that it reflects, reproduces and possibly amplifies stratification effects which have their main roots in the unequal property relations of global capitalism. The Internet can be either inclusive or exclusive.