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They're labeling them "pirates" so that the MPAA and the RIAA will get on the case. Those guys are relentless.

New definitions of words creep into usage all the time, and this is one I've been noticing.

Folks are using "pirate" to mean "intercept" or "surreptitiously copy", rather than the traditional usage (leaving aside the even older meaning, of course) of simply "distribute copyrighted material".

The drone recorded footage of the insurgents drinking grog and cursing landlubbers.

Have we already forgotten of "pirated cable (video)"?

Perhaps they're using it in a sense similar to "pirate radio".

Isn't "pirate radio" a radio station that broadcasts illegally? If I am listening to my local pirate radio station, I myself am not a pirate. I think the use of pirate here is just to sensationalize the situation.

Well - may be pirate is the new terrorist