[citation needed] From Chengdu, he operated "CRACK99", a website that sold stolen software globally from 2008 until his arrest by U.S. authorities in 2011.
[3] One of the software titles for sale on CRACK99 was "Satellite Tool Kit 8.0" ("STK"), now known as Systems Tool Kit, designed by Analytical Graphics Incorporated (AGI) to enable the U.S. military to simulate missile launches and flight trajectories of aircraft and satellites.
Li and the agents engaged in lengthy email and Skype conversations about increasing sales by expanding the U.S. market.
Ultimately, Li agreed to meet the agents in Saipan to discuss future business opportunities.
The $100 million figure was based on the results from search warrants executed on Xiang Li's email accounts, which revealed about 600 illegal transactions between April 2008 and August 2010.
In January 2013, the federal district court in Delaware accepted Li's guilty plea to one count each of conspiracy to commit criminal copyright infringement and conspiracy to commit wire fraud, exposing him to a maximum of 25 years of incarceration.
The U.S. government agreed that cyber theft is prevalent in China,[5] but contended that the prevalence of Chinese piracy is not a defense, and pointed the court to a report estimating that China's illegal software market reached $9 billion in 2011, out of a total market of nearly $12 billion, thus setting a piracy rate of 77 percent.
Li sold software worth over $600,000 to Dr. Ronald Best, the “Chief Scientist” of a U.S. defense contractor involved in applications such as radio communication, radar, and microwave technology.