One man's pirate is another man's...

Were the pirates of old really the awful ogres portrayed in legend? Did Pirates of Yore Get a Bad Rap? has one answer.

At a time when the British Empire restricted trade in the colonies, pirates were a source of cheap goods and tidy profits for merchants and others who sold them supplies. But pirates were also heroes in the eyes of many sailors, indentured servants and others who saw them as rebels against tyrannical merchant captains, plantation owners and government officials.

"This particular phase of piracy was more of a maritime revolt than simple crime," notes Kenneth Kinkor, research director of Expedition Whydah, the Provincetown, Mass., group excavating Bellamy's wreck. "There was a level of democracy and tolerance aboard pirate vessels that was very difficult to find anywhere in the Western world at that time."

Yeah, well, I suppose most modern day pirates are also just trying to feed their families...

By engaging in criminal and often lethal activities.

As in

Two Indonesian sailors, freed after more than two months of captivity, were turned over Wednesday to an Indonesian lawmaker, while the Philippine military said efforts were under way to rescue a third hostage.

The three tugboat crewmen were kidnapped by suspected Muslim guerrillas in March. Two were rescued on Sunday on southern Jolo island after a firefight between troops and al-Qaida-linked Abu Sayyaf extremists.

Erickson Hutagaol, 23, and Yamin Labuso, 28, told reporters at the Philippine military's Southern Command headquarters in Zamboanga city that their captors kept them constantly on the move and they feared for their lives. (source)