Thomas Barnett, the antitrust chief for the Untied States Justice Department, warned foreign governments to consider their actions before interfering with popular technologies like the iTunes Store. According to Reuters, Mr. Barnett made his comments at an antitrust law conference in Washington D.C. Event attendees included antitrust officials from Europe and Asia.

He commented that "regulatory second-guessing... threatens to harm the very consumers it claims to help," and mentioned the iTunes Store as an example.

Earlier this year, France attempted to enact a law that would force Apple and its competitors to open their copy protection schemes so that every MP3 player and music download service would be compatible. The final version of the law provided loopholes so that companies can keep their proprietary DRM technologies secret.

Currently, Scandinavian countries are considering legal action against Apple, claiming that the licensing terms at the iTunes Store violate regional laws.

Mr. Barnett stated that the actions against Apple "provides a useful illustration of how an attack on intellectual property rights can threaten dynamic innovation."

Philip Lowe, the director general of competition at the European Commission, commented after the speech that he, too, is concerned over proposals to impose restrictions on iTunes.