by Richard Watkins

Created on: April 20, 2009   Last Updated: April 22, 2009

Not too long ago the word piracy in regards to crime would have brought to mind a nerdy kid with too much time, too much brains who was illegally distributing songs or software to his cronies at a price. Well, maybe not to everyone. When police scanners were the in-thing, I was amazed to see there was a code for scalping. Selling tickets in front of sold out show never entered MY mind, instead I pictured a Comanchi Indian adorned in a extravagant head dress flying by on a horse and scalping the head of an unfortunate victim. I thought, "Wow. I can't believe they have a code for that". My older brother rolled his eyes and reminded me of the slicksters in front of the stadium or convention centers selling tickets at a profit to sold out events. "Ohhh duh!" I said, laughing at my own stupidity. But in my defence I was never much of a sports fan or a concert goer. More and more frequently, we are hearing about piracy and we are just getting used to it referring to the real thing. Like Jon Stewart said, the nerds have been demoted and are now labeled what they are; "theives".

What comes to most people's minds when they try to stereotype modern day pirates is probably a blank. For a brief instant we might get a mental picture of them with the eye patch, the hook for a hand, and a foul mouthed parrot on their shoulder. This image is dismissed fairly quickly since we realize this is the romanticized version that Hollywood created. But, who are they, these modern day pirates? What do they look like? Where did they come from and what makes them rob ships at sea? Why is it suddenly the "in" thing to do off the coast of Somalia?

Only in the movies is it okay to assume that pirates dress or look a certain way. A pirate can look like anyone. The pirates that are getting so much attention in Somalia, the majority are black. However, a pirate of today can come in any color and dress as diversely as any person walking on our streets. The major thing that today's pirates share is the desire to have money. They often come from poverty stricken lands like Somalia. Many of them have just as much experience behind the wheel of a tanker ship as the captains they take hostage and have been known to impress their captives with their ability to read radar and expertly handle steering the large vessels. One captain marveled that the pirate who took the wheel from him 2003, impressed him as doing a better job than he was able to. There is a good reason for this, many modern day pirates

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