Daley said the administration generally favored a low-profile role for the government in regulating electronic commerce. Government's role is to establish a climate where electronic commerce can flourish. Daley, leaving later Wednesday with President Clinton for the Summit of the Americas in Chile, said he planned to take that message to other countries. The administration has called for an Internet free-trade zone, allowing electronic commerce to expand without government tariffs and taxes. The administration also favors an international convention approving use of digital signatures and other authentication technologies, Daley said.
Several challenges remain for the administration in key areas, however.
Congress has yet to pass legislation favored by the administration to impose a moratorium on state and local taxation of Internet commerce. The administration's plan to have industry adopt voluntary codes of conduct to protect the privacy of consumers has not caught on as widely as hoped, Daley conceded. All rights reserved.