From: "Ted White" <twhite8 at cox.net>
To: "WSFA members" <WSFAlist at keithlynch.net>
Subject: [WSFA] Re: remembering the age of piracy
Date: Thu, 22 May 2003 18:32:42 -0400
Reply-To: WSFA members <WSFAlist at keithlynch.net>

----- Original Message -----
From: <ronkean at juno.com>
To: <WSFAlist at keithlynch.net>
Sent: Wednesday, May 21, 2003 8:59 AM
Subject: [WSFA] remembering the age of piracy

>
> On Wed, 21 May 2003 08:23:17 -0400 "Strong, Lee" <StrongL at MTMC.ARMY.MIL>
> writes:
> >         Piracy as a way of life is distinctly overrated by those
> > with
> > selective memories.  Real pirates had all the disadvantages of
> > sailors in
> > the Royal Navy with few of the compensating protections.
>
> You speak of pirates in the past tense.  And of course sea piracy is rare
> today, compared to the 1700s, when some pirates (privateers) were even
> state-sanctioned.  Privateering was outlawed by international convention
> in 1856 (Treaty of Paris of 1856), but the question remains why piracy is
> rare today, given that fast boats, guns, and criminals are not in short
> supply.

It's not that rare, but it's often not *called* "piracy."  "Boat hijacking"
is a more common term.  Criminals seize some guy's pleasure boat, probably
killing him in the process, and use the boat in some criminal activity --
commonly smuggling.

--Ted White