When is a pirate not a pirate?
When he’s got a commission from his own government to hit enemy ships at will. The official name is a ‘letter of Marque’. You get all the risk and reward of the pirate’s life, together with the protection of your own government so long as the targets you hit are from an approved list.
We saw it on the high seas in the golden age of piracy, when the great powers of the day wanted to make life difficult for the other guy without actually sending a fleet. So they found an enterprising young local and gave him a Letter of Marque as an official sanction to strike out against whichever powers their country happened to be at war with.
It’s exactly the tactic that helped America achieve her independence.
Although the documentation is incomplete, about 1,700 Letters of Marque, issued on a per-voyage basis, were granted during the American Revolution. Nearly 800 vessels were commissioned as privateers and are credited with capturing or destroying about 600 British ships. — National Park Service
Skip ahead another 250 years and while we seldom talk about Letters of Marque in the modern context (aside from a few wild conversations about picking fights with foreign cartels), the idea is firmly embedded in the Constitution as one of the enumerated Article I powers of Congress (Article I section 8).
Modern problems call for modern solutions.
We may not be facing dangerous foes threatening our maritime traffic on the high seas today (in most of the world, anyway), but a creative repurposing of the right to give letters of marque might help solve a DIFFERENT problem.
Like the original issue of piracy, where the navy outsourced the work when they couldn’t defend the entire merchant fleet around the world, we have a similar problem on a very different wide-open frontier: cyberspace.
It’s a simple solution. Deputize the hackers and put them to work for us.
Today, Congressman Tim Burchett (TN-02) introduced the Cyber Letters of Marque and Reprisal Act in the U.S. House of Representatives. Senator Mike Lee (R-UT) introduced the Senate version of this legislation.
Cybercrime poses a persistent and evolving threat to the United States, targeting individuals, businesses, and government institutions. Everything from financial scams to terrorist plots are facilitated through a vast cyberspace that our government agencies are tasked with protecting.
The Cyber Letters of Marque and Reprisal Act authorizes the President to commission private contractors and entities for the purpose of conducting limited cyberspace operations. Deputizing American patriots will bolster our ability to protect the U.S. against cyber criminals.
“Widespread cybercrime represents an existential threat to our national security,” said Congressman Burchett. “Allowing private operators to aid the federal government in combatting these crimes will strengthen our ability to defend the United States against terrorism. I am proud to partner with Senator Lee again to protect Americans. He continues to be a strong advocate for cyber security in Congress” — Burchett
Being a ‘keyboard warrior’ doesn’t mean you should abandon that childhood dream of talking like a pirate, and living like one too. Not if this legislation passes, anyway.
Savvy?
