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> The MIT Pirate Certificate is for entertainment purposes only and does not give the recipient license to engage in piracy or any pirate activities. Jeez, wha

> The MIT Pirate Certificate is for entertainment purposes only and does not give the recipient license to engage in piracy or any pirate activities. Jeez, what buzzkills.

devjab 3y ago
I mean, wouldn't it be a privateer certificate if it gave you a license?
eschneider 3y ago
Eh, you don't need a certificate to engage in piracy. Also, do they have a Highwayman Certificate if you also make the equestrian team? Asking for a friend...
- 082349872349872 3y ago
  Combine the two and capture prize ships from horseback: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Capture_of_the_Dutch_fleet_at_Den_Helder https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Capture_of_the_Dutch_fleet_at_... ?
  - eschneider 3y ago
    Tempting, but I've already been dinged by the local police for asking motorists to "Stand and deliver" at stoplights.
philsnow 3y ago
A certificate says “we are Some Group that Knows about This Stuff and we think that so-and-so is capable of doing pirate-y things” You’d want a letter of marque for an endorsement of being “allowed” to do pirate-y things. https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Letter_of_marque https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Letter_of_marque
- number6 3y ago
  > Article I of the United States Constitution lists issuing letters of marque and reprisal in Section 8 as one of the enumerated powers of Congress, alongside the power to tax and to declare war. It's still a thing
  - pclmulqdq 3y ago
    Reportedly the Russian government has issued letters of marque to hacking and cybercrime groups. I can imagine the same has happened in the US.
    - dragonwriter 3y ago
      > Reportedly the Russian government has issued letters of marque to hacking and cybercrime groups. Those would only be metaphorical (and even then not a particular apt metaphor) letters of marque and reprisal; a literal letter of marque and reprisal is to a private vessel to attack and seize property from enemy vessels, converting acts which would otherwise be piracy under international law into lawful armed combat. Cyberhacking groups aren’t vessels, and what they are doing isn’t something that would be piracy under international law without being under the umbrella of government war efforts. > I can imagine the same has happened in the US. Not under US law (even if it still wouldn’t make any sense under international law for the reasons described above), since Constitutionally that would require an active of Congress authorizing such letters, which has not occurred. You can imagine what you want, but its simply not a reality.
      - pclmulqdq 3y ago
        > Not under US law (even if it still wouldn’t make any sense under international law for the reasons described above), since Constitutionally that would require an active of Congress authorizing such letters, which has not occurred. You can imagine what you want, but its simply not a reality. As we all know, the US defense apparatus, particularly its clandestine branch, has never done anything illegal.
irq-1 3y ago
> Jeez, what buzzkills. Sure, but what about the preceding sentence? > Non-MIT courses and life experience are not counted towards completing the certificate. (emphasis added)
paulddraper 3y ago
They say that, but realistically no one ever checks for your pirate license anyway, so you can get away with it. YMMV
mikrl 3y ago
Who even gives out letters of marque these days?
- Asparagirl 3y ago
  A US Congressman (from Texas, naturally) introduced a bill to grant letters of marque to be used against Russian oligarchs’ property early last year, just after the Russian invasion of Ukraine. Alas, it did not pass. But letters of marque are still explicitly enumerated as a power granted in the US Constitution, and notably the United States was not one of the signatories to the 1856 treaty that mostly banned them. And that treaty was the Paris Declaration Respecting Maritime Law, which came about at the end of a war for…Crimea. https://www.congress.gov/bill/117th-congress/house-bill/6869 https://www.congress.gov/bill/117th-congress/house-bill/6869
akomtu 3y ago
Is the certificate recognized in major pirate organizations? Can you go to Somali, show the certificate and receive some respect?
xhkkffbf 3y ago
Well, sure, it's a bummer. But one has to wonder why we glorify a practice of pillaging, raping and destruction. What's next for MIT? A Hitler Certificate? A KGB Certificate? A Slave Whipping Certificate?
nyc_data_geek1 3y ago
You mean to tell me I can't get a Letter of Marque from MIT? I mean technically then I'd be a privateer but still
benatkin 3y ago
It doesn't mean that they can't. Just that they have to engage in them as pirates normally would – without permission!
antihero 3y ago
If you were licensed wouldn’t you be a privateer anyway?

> The MIT Pirate Certificate is for entertainment purposes only and does not give the recipient license to engage in piracy or any pirate activities. Jeez, what buzzkills.

devjab 3y ago

I mean, wouldn't it be a privateer certificate if it gave you a license?

eschneider 3y ago

Eh, you don't need a certificate to engage in piracy. Also, do they have a Highwayman Certificate if you also make the equestrian team? Asking for a friend...

082349872349872 3y ago
Combine the two and capture prize ships from horseback: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Capture_of_the_Dutch_fleet_at_Den_Helder https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Capture_of_the_Dutch_fleet_at_... ?
- eschneider 3y ago
  Tempting, but I've already been dinged by the local police for asking motorists to "Stand and deliver" at stoplights.

philsnow 3y ago

A certificate says “we are Some Group that Knows about This Stuff and we think that so-and-so is capable of doing pirate-y things” You’d want a letter of marque for an endorsement of being “allowed” to do pirate-y things. https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Letter_of_marque https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Letter_of_marque

number6 3y ago
> Article I of the United States Constitution lists issuing letters of marque and reprisal in Section 8 as one of the enumerated powers of Congress, alongside the power to tax and to declare war. It's still a thing
- pclmulqdq 3y ago
  Reportedly the Russian government has issued letters of marque to hacking and cybercrime groups. I can imagine the same has happened in the US.
  - dragonwriter 3y ago
    > Reportedly the Russian government has issued letters of marque to hacking and cybercrime groups. Those would only be metaphorical (and even then not a particular apt metaphor) letters of marque and reprisal; a literal letter of marque and reprisal is to a private vessel to attack and seize property from enemy vessels, converting acts which would otherwise be piracy under international law into lawful armed combat. Cyberhacking groups aren’t vessels, and what they are doing isn’t something that would be piracy under international law without being under the umbrella of government war efforts. > I can imagine the same has happened in the US. Not under US law (even if it still wouldn’t make any sense under international law for the reasons described above), since Constitutionally that would require an active of Congress authorizing such letters, which has not occurred. You can imagine what you want, but its simply not a reality.
    - pclmulqdq 3y ago
      > Not under US law (even if it still wouldn’t make any sense under international law for the reasons described above), since Constitutionally that would require an active of Congress authorizing such letters, which has not occurred. You can imagine what you want, but its simply not a reality. As we all know, the US defense apparatus, particularly its clandestine branch, has never done anything illegal.

irq-1 3y ago

> Jeez, what buzzkills. Sure, but what about the preceding sentence? > Non-MIT courses and life experience are not counted towards completing the certificate. (emphasis added)

paulddraper 3y ago

They say that, but realistically no one ever checks for your pirate license anyway, so you can get away with it. YMMV

mikrl 3y ago

Who even gives out letters of marque these days?

Asparagirl 3y ago
A US Congressman (from Texas, naturally) introduced a bill to grant letters of marque to be used against Russian oligarchs’ property early last year, just after the Russian invasion of Ukraine. Alas, it did not pass. But letters of marque are still explicitly enumerated as a power granted in the US Constitution, and notably the United States was not one of the signatories to the 1856 treaty that mostly banned them. And that treaty was the Paris Declaration Respecting Maritime Law, which came about at the end of a war for…Crimea. https://www.congress.gov/bill/117th-congress/house-bill/6869 https://www.congress.gov/bill/117th-congress/house-bill/6869

akomtu 3y ago

Is the certificate recognized in major pirate organizations? Can you go to Somali, show the certificate and receive some respect?

xhkkffbf 3y ago

Well, sure, it's a bummer. But one has to wonder why we glorify a practice of pillaging, raping and destruction. What's next for MIT? A Hitler Certificate? A KGB Certificate? A Slave Whipping Certificate?

nyc_data_geek1 3y ago

You mean to tell me I can't get a Letter of Marque from MIT? I mean technically then I'd be a privateer but still

benatkin 3y ago

It doesn't mean that they can't. Just that they have to engage in them as pirates normally would – without permission!

antihero 3y ago

If you were licensed wouldn’t you be a privateer anyway?