Dear Mr. Bill Gates,

First, I would like to express my deepest respect to you for your contributions to the developments of global business through Microsoft Corporation. In particular, the development of your Operating System which has enabled widespread use of personal computers and the Internet.

Netpia. com, Inc. is a company incorporated in the Republic of Korea and has provided Native Language Internet Address and Native Email Address services since 1998 in Korea, and is currently providing and plans to provide such services to 95 countries globally. Native Language Internet Address service by Netpia is natural language based, essentially, what we believe to be the next generation of Internet Address for non-English Internet users, and which will help in contributing to remove the digital divide for people who have limited access to information due to language barriers.

This user friendly Internet address service helps to overcome the disadvantages of the existing English domains. This next generation of Internet address system is designed to enable Internet users around the world to connect to homepages by entering an Internet address in their native languages based on keywords, such as everyday real names and words. This service is a global project, which we believe needs to be initiated by somebody, therefore, Netpia started its NLIA service 10 years ago and has been providing the service successfully since then.

Having introduced our company to you briefly, the purpose for this letter to you is because of the latest movements of Internet Explorer 7.0 (IE 7.0 hereafter), which impacts our service and causes me deep concerns in certain respects. Beta version 2 of IE 7.0 has address bar and search features side by side, and the address bar is designed to perform search functions as a query is made in the search box. This has the potential to confuse users. Netpia believes that this function is in conflict with its service and restricts the right of Internet users to access information, therefore potentially impeding fair development of the Internet.

The address bar is the basic function of Internet Browsers, allowing users to enter various forms of addresses for the purpose of visiting a web site. In addition, Inputs entered in the address bar should be queried to the DNS specified by an Internet user which we believe to be an international standard. With the current movements in IE 7.0 there is a potential that connecting keyword type addresses entered in the address bar to search sites brings different results than what the users expect, and would hinder the development of next generation Internet address which we believe to be human oriented Internet address as well. This can essentially stop expanding functions of existing name servers and development of the next generation of Internet address which can process keyword type addresses and 2 byte languages, not just one byte languages only. Further, the current movements by Microsoft regarding IE 7.0 may be viewed to go against efforts of governments worldwide to utilize the address bar for the purposes of removing the digital divide through the support of multilingualism.

The World Summit on the Information Society (WSIS) under the United Nations, intended to remove the digital divide through the spread of the Internet among developing countries while emphasizing a multilingual Internet address as a tool to remove such digital divide. In addition, a recommendation (multilingual based IDN and keyword type address should be supported without plug-ins) was made in the “Global Symposium on Promoting the Multilingual Internet” held by ITU-UNESCO.

In line with the recommendations of International Organizations, Netpia has been trying to create and provide the next generation of user friendly, universal address system with international standard organizations such as ITU, and is providing Native Language Internet Address (NLIA) service in accordance with the TTA standard of the Telecommunication Technology Association in Korea. Furthermore, Netpia has started to provide its formal service energized by the active cooperation of the relevant government and local companies in 7 countries and is providing test service targeting 95 countries.

The Internet should be a place for fair competition. In particular, it is very important to build Internet environments which follow standards accessible by anybody regardless of the Operating systems or Internet browsers they use. A non-standard service taking advantage of superior business positions may bring profit to an organization for a short duration of time, but eventually it hinders technology development and interferes with the growth of Internet address system. Furthermore, this may cause Internet users to be deprived of advantages they can experience through the Internet otherwise.

The importance of the Internet address does not need to be emphasized. The growth of Microsoft can not be separated from the development of the Internet; it has started with the appearance of personal computers and grown tremendously with the development of the Internet. If the initial type of IP address that consists of numbers only was available without the help of the domain system, then it would have been impossible for the Internet to have grown this fast along with personal computers. Operating systems and application programs by Microsoft are no exception. From this perspective, the introduction of domain name system can be seen as a hidden contributor to the success of Microsoft.

Looking from overall perspective of Internet related businesses and removal of the digital divide worldwide, we strongly believe that Native Language Internet Address by Netpia is the next generation of Internet address and is breaking down such digital divides worldwide. Netpia’s NLIA service has evolved in the past 10 years and is what we believe to be the next generation of human oriented internet address system which can be used in English and non-English speaking countries. With the introduction of IPv6 and the Ubiquitous generation, this NLIA service would fuel the growth of Internet use and widespread use of personal computers in non-English speaking countries. I do not doubt that our NLIA service will play an important business role in providing dynamic power and basis to the development and growth of Microsoft, the greatest contributor and the beneficiary of the Information technology industry.

English domain name system after the original IP type address enabled easy Internet use, thus helping Microsoft to acquire a user basis and lead to increase sales of Operating Systems from Microsoft. Likewise, spread of Native Language Internet Address throughout the world can bring the same result once again to Microsoft.

Therefore, I in hopes of further developing a fruitful business relationship with your company I have attempted to discuss the above mentioned topics with your Korean branch, unfortunately due to some difference of opinions we have been unable to make productive communications. Thus, because of the major movements of IE 7.0 it has come to a crucial point in time and that is why I am writing this letter to you in hopes of starting a dialogue with yourself or your Korean representatives. Your deepest consideration and kind reply would be appreciated after reading my thought and opinion on the development of next generation of Internet Address written in this letter.

Wishing you health and continuous development of your company,

Netpia.com, inc. Korea
Netpia CEO Pan Jung Lee