Lieutenant Richards (pirate) Lieutenant Richards (pirate) Lieutenant Richards (fl. 1718, first name unknown, possibly Thomas) was a pirate active in the Caribbean and off the Carolinas. He is best known for sailing alongside Blackbeard (Edward Teach / Thatch). Richards was part of Edward Teach’s crew while they sailed with Benjamin Hornigold and later aboard the "Queen Anne’s Revenge". Near the Carolinas in early 1717 Teach met up with pirate Stede Bonnet in his 10-gun 60-ton sloop "Revenge". Bonnet was a wealthy landowner from Barbados who knew little of seafaring or piracy; at Teach’s suggestion (and the request of Bonnet’s disgruntled crew) Bonnet came
Pirate Act Pirate Act The Protecting Intellectual Rights Against Theft and Expropriation Act of 2004, better known as the Pirate Act, was a bill in the United States Congress that would have let federal prosecutors file civil lawsuits against suspected copyright infringers. Prior to the introduction of this act, only criminal lawsuits could be filed against suspected infringers. By the mid-1990s, p2p file sharing over the Internet had risen to prominence. Until 1997, copyright infringement was only considered a criminal offense if it was for the purpose of "commercial advantage or private financial gain." During this year, the NET Act was passed,