Privateering is becoming especially prevalent in the acquisition of patent portfolios from other companies.

FORBES: Patent Wars Rage As Tech Industry Waits For Serious Reforms

Her father, Lawrence, had served the Crown by privateering during the French and Indian War and made a fortune.

WHITEHOUSE: Elizabeth Kortright Monroe

They found that any accessible treasure that remained had been raised and stolen in their absence by small privateering ships and local adventurers.

BBC: All that glisters can be gold

"They planned to ignore normal legislation governing privateering contracts, and made their own unique deal, whereby they stood to gain a fortune from Kidd's expertise as a privateer, " Konstam said.

CNN: Real 'pirate of the Caribbean' was funded by London elite

The abuses of the privateering system, and the presence of so many scruffy free-agent pirates, led to a decision by the British authorities in the early 18th century to begin cracking down on piracy in the Caribbean.

NPR: Pirates 101: Fact and Fiction on the High Seas