U.S. Justice Department antitrust chief Thomas Barnett has urged foreign governments not to impose regulations on technologies that could hamper innovation, citing as example Apple’s dealings with foreign nations with regard to its iTunes store, Reuters reported. Barnett did not specifically mention the new laws and threats of litigation against Apple that France and several Scandinavian nations have undertaken in response to Apple’s refusal to open its iTunes store to iPod competitors. In contrast to those countries’ contentions that Apple is creating a monopoly on digital music, with its iTunes Store tied to its iPod players, Barnett said such actions “provide a useful illustration of how an attack on intellectual property rights can threaten dynamic innovation.” Some antitrust lawyers in the audience at Barnett’s speech at an antitrust law conference told Reuters he may also be referring to Microsoft, on whom the European Commission has imposed sanctions for violating antitrust laws.

Links: http://tinyurl.com/e72uz