Cyberia

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LM network resources
Cyberia a business set up by LM network associate Keith Teare

Cyberia, widely believed to be Britain’s first internet café, was founded in Whitfield Street, London in 1994 by LM associate Keith Teare, Gene Teare, David Rowe and Eva Pascoe, with investment from Easynet. [1] Cyberia was run by a company called Cybercafe Limited.

Keith Teare and David Rowe had founded Easynet earlier the same year and the companies operated from the same building [2] while Cyberia marketed Easynet products. [3] Cyberia was promoted by LM associate Kenan Malik in an article in the Independent on Sunday in 1996 which failed to mention that both he and Teare were members of the RCP as well as activists in the RCP front group Workers Against Racism.[4] Early investors included Jean Pigotzzi, Maurice Saatchi and Mick Jagger. [5][6] Around a dozen branches, some of which were franchises, were opened both in the UK and abroad, including Paris, Bangkok, Tokyo, Dublin, Edinburgh, Manchester and Rotterdam. [7] [8] Eva Pascoe sold her stake to three Korean investors in 1998. [9] In 2001, Easynet director and LM associate Phil Mullan was chief executive. [10] Cyberia was used as a meeting place by LM associated entity WORLDwrite. [11]

Projects associated with Cyberia included a website Channel Cyberia and a paper and web based eponymous magazine, [12] the latter hosted by Easynet.

Notes

  1. "All about Eva", yos.com website, accessed 28 Nov 2010
  2. "Coffee Time in Cyberspace", Sunday Times website, accessed 28 Nov 2010
  3. "A PC and a pot of coffee", Evaposcoe.com website, accessed 28 Nov 2010
  4. "Watch this Cyberspace", Independent on Sunday, 19 May 1996, accessed 27 Nov 2010
  5. "Cyberia", Teare.com website, accessed 31 May 2010
  6. "Ten years of Cyberia", Telegraph website, accessed 28 Nov 2010
  7. "All about Eva", yos.com website, accessed 28 Nov 2010
  8. " The first cyber cafe", Guardian website, accessed 28 Nov 2010
  9. "Internet café history", kiosdigital website, accessed 28 Nov 2010
  10. "Cyber cafes- on the demise?", BBC website, accessed 28 Nov 2010
  11. "Cyberia", WORLDwrite website, accessed 28 Nov 2010
  12. "Cyberia: an expert's view", Brand Republic News website, accessed 28 Nov 2010