sub clone
{
    my $self = shift;
    my $copy = bless { %$self }, ref $self;  # copy most fields

    # elements that are references must be handled in a special way
    $copy->{'proxy'} = { %{$self->{'proxy'}} }; # here's where we die!
    $copy->{'no_proxy'} = [ @{$self->{'no_proxy'}} ];  # copy array

    # remove reference to objects for now
    delete $copy->{cookie_jar};
    delete $copy->{conn_cache};

    $copy;
}