I have been trying to think of how we could build privateering into the game - I think the concept of a Letter of Marque from a trading company sanctioning the destruction and looting of specific pirates on the server would tie in really nicely with the bounty system people have been throwing around for PvP. You could accrue bounties for unsanctioned PvP (no direct penalty) and other players could basically purchase a commission giving them permission to take you out and reap the reward. Any privateer with a contract for your head would be identifiable in some way.
The blurry line between piracy and privateering is a fun one and it'd be interesting to codify that into the game somehow.
