Rex Yang, Software Piracy, Missouri 2015

Kansas City, MO – In a significant blow to intellectual property thieves, Rex Yang, 37, of Seattle, has pleaded guilty to participating in one of the largest software piracy schemes ever prosecuted by the U.S. government.

Yang, owner of Digisoft, LLC, and Premiere Software, Inc., waived his right to a grand jury and pleaded guilty before U.S. Chief District Judge Greg Kays on December 16, 2015, to a federal information that charges him with participating in a criminal conspiracy from January 1, 2009, to December 10, 2014.

The scheme, which involved co-conspirators operating overseas in the People’s Republic of China, Singapore, and Germany, and across the United States, illegally sold millions of dollars of Microsoft Corporation and Adobe Systems, Inc., software product key codes through a charitable organization and several online businesses.

Yang and his co-conspirators reaped an estimated $30 million in profits from customers who paid over $100 million for the software. Investigators seized more than $20.6 million in assets, including $10,188,777 in bank and investment accounts, 10 luxury automobiles, and 27 parcels of real estate with a total market valuation of $9,739,399.

Yang is the sixth and final defendant to plead guilty in this stage of the ongoing criminal investigation, which originated with a Kansas City, Mo., company. Many of these defendants and their related entities had been sued civilly for willful trademark and copyright infringement by Microsoft and other software developers.

The investigation, which began in Kansas City, Mo., uncovered a massive software piracy scheme that victimized not only software developers and manufacturers but also unwitting consumers. Software piracy is a significant economic crime that damages the American economy and hurts private businesses.

Rex Yang’s guilty plea marks a significant victory in the fight against intellectual property theft. His case serves as a warning to those who would seek to profit from the theft of others’ intellectual property.

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