Pirates in the News, August 13, 2008

Not much in the news this week,

The Associated Press reported that a US Sloop stopped a pirate attack in the Gulf of Aiden.

India doesn't have enough courts to deal with intellectual property piracy:

Take the case of Madala Krishna Prasad who was arrested on charges of video piracy in Ongole on July 22, 2008.

He was remanded in judicial custody the next day. But when the bail petition was moved by his counsel, the judge expressed his helplessness as the case did not fall under his jurisdiction.

Then the counsel, K Venkata Reddy, moved another bail petition before the additional chief metropolitan magistrate court, which is the designated court for such offences. He rejected to hear the petition because the remand was in a different court.

Good to know if you're planning an international piracy ring, or just want to download Wall-E.
And finally, a public interest piece in the vein of the finest of news digesting. In Beaufort, North Carolina, they re-enacts the Spanish invasion of 1747.

In August 1747, Beaufort's population was hardly the size it is today, but when Spanish privateers invaded the harbor, a local militia, joined by townsfolk and farmers, was there to fight them off.

"When the (pirates) came back, they were ready," said Beaufort resident Helen Mason, recalling the history of her hometown.

A reenactment of that day was resurrected Saturday in downtown Beaufort, with a warmer welcome for the pirates that took over the town.

The Beaufort Pyrate Invasion, an event last held in 1983, returned with a pirate invasion on water that drew a crowd to the shoreline along Taylors Creek and a pirate encampment at the Beaufort Historic Site that put the pirates on display.

While a few pirates were captured as the town again held off its invaders by water, most wandered freely around town as they posed for pictures with visitors to the event and gave demonstrations for the public.