Can a person steal information in a violent manner in the way a legendary pirate could be proud of?

Those who apply for patents in hopes of cornering the market by taking technology and tools based on information or an idea from anyone else. The patent may seem novel if spiced with buzzwords and jargon, but it usually squeaks past the patent office. Monopolies are examples of information pirates that use this form of government protection.

A recent addition to Underground Tokyo, Information Pirates have been issued licences as data privateers by rival factions to further the destablization of intellectual property. Anything they steal - be it cash, customer data, breakbeat, business plan, keepsake ashtray - they can keep, provided it acts to the detriment of the pirate's patron's enemies.

The Information Pirate was seen as a romantic notion until the development of the IP_kill utilities towards the inconclusive end of the mid-21st century Open Source Wars.