BRUSSELS, April 3 (Xinhua) -- The European Commission confirmed on Tuesday that it had launched an antitrust investigation into Apple's iTunes for its territorial restrictions in online music sales.

    The European Union's antitrust watchdog has alleged that Apple reached agreements with major record companies to restrict music sales so that consumers can only buy music from the iTunes' online store in their country of residence.

    Those agreements contain territorial sales restrictions which violate EU rules, the Commission said in a statement.

    iTunes verifies consumers' country of residence through their credit card details. For example, a consumer must use a credit card issued by a bank with an address in Belgium to buy a music download from the iTunes' Belgian on-line store.

    "Consumers are thus restricted in their choice of where to buy music, and consequently what music is available, and at what price," the statement said.

    Apple and those major record companies targeted have two months to respond to the Commission's inquiry. If found guilty of antitrust practices, the U.S. company could face fines of up to ten percent of its worldwide annual turnover.