Re: Pirates and Privateers

Laserlight argued:
> > I think we need a lawyer-tight definition of  'Pirate'  and an
> > explanation of the difference between a pirate and the other 
> > gentlemen (and ladies) mentioned above before we are willing to 
> > accept the above statement.
> >
>   That might be a little tricky.  Traditionally, the difference 
> between a privateer and a pirate is that the privateer has a letter 
> of marque, ie is operating with government permission.  In the 
> Alarishi Empire, however, anyone who can send in a completed 
> application and pay the fee can become a government--if you can 
> afford to own a ship, you can probably afford to be a governemnt.

Would such a AE local government be officially recognised as a 
sovereign power by any of the powers outside the AE ? 

Or would they treat them as, say, a state within a federation (e.g.like 
the states in the US ), thus dealing primarily with the Alarishi 
emperor and holding him responsible for keeping any untoward citizens in
check 
?

Or would the AE governments be treated as judicial non-entities ? Then	
any of their warships would be seen as a pirate.

Historical sidenote:

The inverse situation (several independent powers forming a joint 
fleet) has similar problems, in that the joint fleet is not necessarily 
recognised by outside powers.

Two cases in point:
In 1848, the German states formed a federation, which also had a Navy. 
Until the British Government recognised the joint German flag, the ships

officially were registered in the various states.

When NATO created a joint fleet of AWACS early-warnig planes, they were 
registered in Luxemburg. 

Greetings
Karl Heinz