I agree with most of the responses.
Doesn’t the role of international law and the media have any role in this? If I was, say, Martin Frobisher and I board and commandeer a Spanish ship full of fish and gold, then 17th century England would turn a blind eye. Twentieth century England wouldn’t, regardless of how easy or hard it was to do. In this day and age, private piracy would be public, attracting the attention of people with boats and power in many countries all of whom would have a vested interest in reducing these “restrictions on trade”. Think being a pirate may be more dangerous these days.
Especially since it’s a lot easier to find a ship on the ocean now than it was then, I would think.
Bump 