Piracy
From The Art and Popular Culture Encyclopedia
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"I am sorry they won't let you have your sloop again."--Captain Bellamy to Captain Beer "Justice being taken away, then, what are kingdoms but great robberies? For what are robberies themselves, but little kingdoms? The band itself is made up of men; it is ruled by the authority of a prince, it is knit together by the pact of the confederacy; the booty is divided by the law agreed on. [...] Indeed, that was an apt and true reply which was given to Alexander the Great by a pirate who had been seized. For when that king had asked the man what he meant by keeping hostile possession of the sea, he answered with bold pride, 'What do you mean by seizing the whole earth; because I do it with a petty ship, I am called a robber, while you who does it with a great fleet are styled emperor'."--The City of God (5th century) by St. Augustine |
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Piracy is typically an act of robbery or criminal violence at sea. The term can include acts committed on land, in the air, online, or in other major bodies of water or on a shore. It does not normally include crimes committed against persons traveling on the same vessel as the perpetrator (e.g. one passenger stealing from others on the same vessel). The term has been used throughout history to refer to raids across land borders by non-state agents.
Piracy is the name of a specific crime under customary international law and also the name of a number of crimes under the municipal law of a number of States. It is distinguished from privateering, which is authorized by national authorities and therefore a legitimate form of war-like activity by non-state actors. Privateering is considered commerce raiding, and was outlawed by the Peace of Westphalia (1648) for signatories to those treaties.
Those who engage in acts of piracy are called pirates (Freebooter.) Historically, offenders have usually been apprehended by military personnel and tried by military tribunals.
In the 21st century, the international community is facing many problems in bringing pirates to justice.
See also
- A General History of the Pyrates, a historical book on pirates
- Aircraft hijacking, a.k.a. air piracy
- Air Pirates
- Swashbuckler
- List of pirates
- Pirate code
- Pirate game
- Pirate Party / Pirate Parties International
- Pirate Round
- Pirate utopia
- Pirate's World
- Software piracy
- Spanish treasure fleet
- Statute of Monopolies
- The Successful Pyrate, a historical play
- Women in piracy
- Piracy in the Atlantic World
- Piracy in Somalia
- History of the Pirates (1829 by Benton
