Wednesday, July 2, 1997, page 1 ---------------------------------------------------------------------- ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Clinton Backs Internet Free-Trade Zone ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Combined Dispatches Reuters, AP ---------------------------------------------------------------------- WASHINGTON - President Bill Clinton said Tuesday that the United States would ask the World Trade Organization to create a ''free trade zone'' for Internet commerce within a year. The president made the announcement as he unveiled a comprehensive policy to promote electronic commerce within the United States by limiting sharply government regulation and taxation of Internet activity. Mr. Clinton said the U.S. trade representative, Charlene Barshefsky, would present the American position to the world trade body. ''Electronic commerce is like the Wild West of the economy,'' he said, adding, ''We hope to harness its full potential for increasing productivity and growing the economy, bringing prosperity to the American people and individuals worldwide.''

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