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Alphabet's DOJ probe; Apple's labor law violations; Facebook's gun sales ads

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Alphabet's DOJ probe; Apple's labor law violations; Facebook's gun sales ads

Top news

* The U.S. Department of Justice on Aug. 30 sent a civil investigative demand to Alphabet Inc. requesting information and documents relating to the company's prior antitrust investigations in the U.S. and elsewhere. The request is related to an antitrust review of leading online platforms announced by the DOJ in July to determine whether these companies stifle competition or engage in other practices that harm consumers. Alphabet said it expects to receive similar investigative demands from state attorneys general.

* Apple Inc. denied most of the claims in a report alleging that the tech giant and its supplier Foxconn violated labor laws in China, according to CNBC. A nonprofit watchdog organization reported that about 50% of the workforce at the world's biggest iPhone factory managed by Foxconn in Zhengzhou, China, were "dispatch workers" or temporary employees as of August despite the fact that Chinese labor law requires that temporary hires should not be more than 10% of the total workforce. Apple said the percentage of temporary workers at the factory exceeded its standards, adding that it is working with Foxconn to resolve the matter.

* A group of 15 Democratic senators demanded information from Facebook Inc. on how it polices gun sales on its Marketplace service and asked the social media giant to quickly end the postings of firearms for sale, The Wall Street Journal reports. The senators wrote a letter to CEO Mark Zuckerberg stating that they had found instances of possible disguised gun sales on Marketplace. The senators, in their letter, further asked the company to provide information on its knowledge and efforts at policing the sale of firearms on the platform.

Internet & OTT

* Roku Inc. is expanding its smart TV licensing program to Europe. The television software developer will start selling its first smart TVs in the U.K. later this fall in partnership with China's Hisense Electric Co. Ltd.

* Twitter Inc. rolled out a public beta version of its Apple TV app through Apple's TestFlight program, Engadget reports. In order to accept the public invitation, a user must have the TestFlight app on both the Apple TV and another iOS device.

* Viacom Inc. unit Viacom Digital Studios is adding more shows to Facebook's Watch platform with the studio set to launch another six series under the Comedy Central (US), Nickelodeon (US) and Awesomeness brands, Broadcasting & Cable reports. Viacom Digital Studios previously agreed to show MTV (US)'s "Drag My Dad" and Nickelodeon's "Throw Back with Nickelodeon" on Facebook Watch.

* Google banned advertising for "unproven or experimental medical techniques" under its new healthcare and medicines policy, according to an official blog post. The new policy will prohibit ads selling treatments that have no established biomedical or scientific basis.

Film

* Warner Bros. film studio's "IT Chapter Two" pulled in $91 million to top the domestic box office for the Sept. 6 weekend, followed by Lions Gate Entertainment Corp.'s "Angel Has Fallen" at No. 2 with $6 million and Universal's "Good Boys" at No. 3 with $5.4 million, according to Comscore Inc. Disney's "The Lion King" was No. 4 with $4.2 million, while Sony Corp.'s "Overcomer" remained in the fifth spot with about $3.8 million.

* The Walt Disney Co. inked a new long-term agreement with Pinewood Studios Ltd. to continue utilizing the Buckinghamshire studio space, The Wrap reports. The deal is anticipated to last through 2029.

Technology

* Microsoft Corp. President and Chief Legal Officer Brad Smith termed Washington's handling of Huawei Technologies Co. Ltd. "un-American," saying that the Chinese company should be allowed to buy U.S. technology, including software from Microsoft, Bloomberg News reports. Smith said the U.S. administration has not "adequately made the case for its moves against the Chinese company."

* ViaSat Inc. is planning to introduce a new business internet service, Viasat Direct Cloud Connect, in the second half of 2019. The service will initially offer cloud connection services to Microsoft Azure via Azure ExpressRoute.

* WeWork Cos. Inc. parent The We Co. will proceed with an investor roadshow for its planned IPO as early as next week despite concerns over the company's valuation, Reuters reported. The coworking giant, which plans to list its shares on the NYSE under the symbol "WE," previously considered reducing the valuation of its IPO to approximately $20 billion.

* Apple played down iOS security concerns after Google LLC's Project Zero recently uncovered a group of websites being used to hack iPhones for the past two years, according to a Sept. 6 blog post. The tech giant said the sophisticated attack was narrowly focused and it affected fewer than a dozen websites that focus on content related to the Uighur community. Additionally, these website attacks were only operational for two months, not two years, as reported by Google, Apple added.

* In other Microsoft news, Christian Reber, founder of the cloud-based task management application Wunderlist, has offered to buy back the app from Microsoft to prevent the tech giant from shutting down the app.

The day ahead

Early morning futures indicators pointed to a higher opening for the U.S. market.

In Asia, Hang Seng slipped 0.04% to 26,681.40, while the Nikkei 225 inched up 0.56% to 21,318.42.

In Europe, around midday, the FTSE 100 shed 0.57% to 7,240.79, and the Euronext 100 lost 0.06% to 1,081.84.

On the macro front

The TD Ameritrade IMX and Consumer Credit consensus are due out today.

Click here to read about today's financial markets, setting out the factors driving stocks, bonds and currencies around the world ahead of the New York open.

Featured news

Data Dispatch: Fall box office: Theaters eye uptick after soft summer; Disney poised to grow: After owning almost 50% of summer ticket sales, Disney is poised to continue its streak. It might even drive a soft 2019 to year-over-year growth in the process.

Data Dispatch: Warner Bros. hopes it can float on 'It: Chapter Two': Warner Bros.' film studio is looking for a win after a bloody 2019, and it looks like horror blockbuster "It: Chapter Two" will put some stitches on the wound.

MarketWeek: Intel shares rise following insider activity; Time Inc. weighs heavy on Meredith: Publisher and broadcaster Meredith Corp.'s stock cratered after it reported a heavy earnings drag from Time Inc., while Intel, Palo Alto Networks, Lions Gate and others had a strong week on the public markets.

The Daily Dose Europe: Canal+ Group/M7 M&A deal; Roku in UK; executive exit at Spotify: The European Commission approved CANAL+ Group Group's M7 acquisition, Roku will begin selling smart TVs in the U.K., and Spotify's head of music is stepping down.

The Daily Dose Asia-Pacific: Alibaba buys Kaola; Axiata, Telenor scrap merger; Rakuten Mobile delays launch: Alibaba is buying NetEase's import online shopping platform Kaola, Axiata and Telenor agreed to end talks regarding a merger of their Asian assets, and Rakuten is delaying the full launch of its mobile services to April 2020.

Featured research

Technology: Global streaming media device sales forecast to flatten in 5-year outlook: Streaming media player and stick shipments grew 10.3% to an estimated 65.8 million in 2018, but increasing saturation in North America and competition from smart TVs are expected to cut into demand.

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