Not really. It was originally the idea of armed robbery with overwhelming force. It first surfaced when the rich Muslims would load up the extended
family and
head for Mecca for the annual pilgrimage. Multiple pirate ships would assault the ship under the red flag ("no mercy"). It was then the practice to surrender and hand over all the valuables. It got popular enough that many ships would join in on the assault since the tradition was that any ship that showed up could get a share of the wealth. Most of these attempts were completed with no shots fired. When you are just cruising with the wife and extended
family you don't come heavily armed and 3 or more ships attacking was not really a fair fight.
This tradition of overwhelming force is still common with modern pirates at sea. They don't generally fight to the death and they do usually attack with exceptional force and multiple ships. A half dozen drunks with automatic weapons works better than you think. Now with shoulder fired rockets and military weapons it's even easier.
After they got all the loot they would
head to a safe haven and quickly spend all the loot on over priced liquor and
cheap women. They often paid very excessive prices and were cheated badly. They were not gifted in the modern world of finance yet dedicated to drinking and having a good time.
Privateering did not come up until almost the very end of the pirate times during the war with
France and
England. A small amount on the tail included US merchant privateers as well. This is the era of
Captain Kidd. he met a grizzly end all for pissing off a British
captain and smacking a rowdy crewman in the head with a wooden bucket (leading to his death). The rumors of all his
money were only rumors since he never really had that much actual loot. It was how they caught him using the idea that he had an immense treasure.
Typically French and
English ships overtaking the enemy merchant ships were awarded 2/3 of the take plus the ship so long as the proper 1/3 share was paid to the admiralty. For a
price they would look the other way.