Apple and several big music companies are facing a European Commission antitrust inquiry after Brussels issued formal charges alleging that the deals underpinning the sale of music through the hugely popular iTunes platform violate competition rules.

In a surprise development, the Brussels regulator last week sent a confidential statement of objections to Apple and to "major record companies". These are understood to include Universal, Warner, EMI and Sony BMG.

The commission's main concern is that iTunes' set-up in the European market prohibits users in one country from downloading music from a website intended to serve another.

Its move was triggered by a 2004 complaint from a British consumer organisation criticising the fact that the UK version of iTunes was more expensive than the version in other European markets.

A spokesman for Neelie Kroes, EU competition commissioner, said consumers were limited "in their choice of where to buy music and, consequently, what music is available and at what price". "The commission alleges that these agreements violate the treaty's rules prohibiting restrictive business practices," he said. Brussels stressed that its allegations had nothing to do with the lack of interoperability between the iTunes format and rival players.

The commission is now pursuing antitrust investigations against three of the biggest names in the US technology sector.

Brussels has already imposed heavy fines against Microsoft in a landmark investigation that started almost nine years ago.

The commission is separately pursuing a case against Intel, the world's biggest chipmaker. - (Financial Times service)