TOP NEWS

* AT&T Inc. is in talks to sell Warner Media LLC's Crunchyroll Inc., a Japanese anime-streaming service company, to Sony Corp. for US$1.5 billion, The Information reported Aug. 12, citing three people familiar with the situation. Sources said AT&T's asking price for Crunchyroll is above recent values for other niche streaming services and something that Sony may not accept. AT&T's price translates to US$500 per subscriber, or US$100 more per subscriber than when AT&T valued the company in 2017.

* French regulator CNIL started preliminary investigations into TikTok Inc. following a complaint lodged in May, Reuters reported, citing a statement from the agency. A spokesperson cited by Reuters said the regulator had closed the complaint filed in May after it was apparent that the complainant had not asked the Beijing ByteDance Technology Co. Ltd. unit first on the matter in line with European Union rules. The complaint had sought the removal of a video from the short-video platform.

➤ US government's authority to seize portion of TikTok sale proceeds questioned

Microsoft Corp. has been in discussions to acquire the Chinese short-form video platform. U.S. President Donald Trump has said he would ban TikTok unless it is sold to a U.S. company by Sept. 15.

➤ Facebook's 'copycat' Reels video feature poses risks to beleaguered TikTok

Analysts say TikTok's mounting political woes present Facebook Inc. with an opportunity to utilize its strong cash position and massive reach to steal share from TikTok, which is widely considered the leading video-sharing app among younger users.

TECHNOLOGY

* Taiwanese electronics assembler Hon Hai Precision Industry Co. Ltd., better known as Foxconn, reported a 3% year-over-year decrease in total revenues in the quarter ended June 30, due to fewer sales of consumer products. Revenue totaled NT$1.13 trillion in the quarter, compared to NT$1.16 trillion in the prior-year period.

* Tencent Holdings Ltd. has entered the fund advisory services business and its fund distribution unit, Teng An Fund, will start offering selected investors investment advisory services this week, Reuters reported. The service will be called Yi Qi Tou.

INTERNET AND OTT

* Tencent said the U.S. decision to ban transactions with WeChat will impact U.S. activity only and that its domestic service Weixin should be unaffected.

* The Trump administration's proposed ban on TikTok will bar app stores in the U.S. from offering the app or placing ads on the video-sharing platform, Reuters reported, citing a White House document. The move is reportedly intended to disrupt TikTok's funding and key operations.

* In other TikTok news, the video-sharing app violated Google LLC privacy policies by collecting unique identifiers from millions of mobile devices, an analysis by The Wall Street Journal disclosed. The company did not disclose the practice to users and masked the data collection under an additional layer of encryption.

* KT Corp. launched subscription-based streaming game service, GameBox, with a monthly plan of 9,900 South Korean won, ET News reported. The service will offer more than 200 pieces of game content by the end of 2020.

* Netflix Inc. confirmed the production of a new Korean original series, "Undercover." The series will be written by Kim Ba-da while Kim Jin-min will direct the series.

* TikTok named Tobias Henning the general manager for its German business.

MEDIA AND ENTERTAINMENT

* IQIYI Inc.-backed online drama producer and distributor Strawbear Entertainment Group filed for an initial public offering on the Hong Kong stock exchange last month, Capital Watch reported.

* KT will develop a virtual reality entertainment service for air passengers jointly with Jin Air Co. Ltd. and Hanjin Information Systems & Telecommunications Co. Ltd. Passengers will be able to borrow VR headsets to view the latest movies in ultra-high resolution, and travel, sports and other VR content in 360-degree images.

* South Korean drama series "Familiar Wife," produced by Studio Dragon Corp. in 2018, will be remade into a Japanese version by Japanese television network Fuji TV, Financial News reported. The 11-episode series is expected to air in January 2021.

* Thai football club Chaiyaphum United Football Club warned that lower league teams could face financial difficulties if they do not receive funds promised to them from a TV rights deal with True Visions Public Co. Ltd, Thai Rath reported.

TELECOMMUNICATIONS

* HKBN Ltd. appointed Danny Li chief technology officer of the company, effective Aug. 1. In this role, he will be responsible for the strategy, development and implementation of the company's network and information security. Li most recently was HKBN's deputy chief technology officer and chief information security officer.

* Malaysian telco Celcom Axiata Bhd. collaborated with Snap Inc.'s Snapchat and Malaysia Digital Economy Corp. to launch a digital lifestyle offering. Pursuant to the collaboration, Celcom's customers will get unlimited access to Snapchat for 3 months.

* Indonesian telco tower operator PT Profesional Telekomunikasi Indonesia distributed an interim dividend worth 110 billion Indonesian rupiah, Neraca reported. The amount increased compared to last year's dividend of 50 billion Indonesian rupiah.

MARKETS

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John Chan, Hyegyu Park, Frances Wang, Kevin Osmond and Patrick Tibke contributed to this report.

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