We've made piracy a community activity.
From BoingBoing [link to http://www.boingboing.net/2009/12/01/somali-pirate-stock-.html no longer works]:
Somali nautical pirates have established a stock-market where guns and cash are invested in upcoming hijackings, with shares of the proceeds returned to investors
Emergent Chaos strikes again…
The business aspects of piracy fascinate me. I mean, yes, these are criminals raiding ships, but they also have some of the organizational and financing challenges that any company has, and it’s weird to see them in this context. I remember hearing that one police action had captured a low-level member of one of these piracy organizations, and one of the things they found on him was a *time sheet*.
There’s a great book on the business, economic and organisational aspects of piracy – “The Invisible Hook – The Hidden Economics of Pirates” by Peter T Leeson.
Thanks, I’ll check it out.