Pirates are raiding the lanes and jumping traders that come along.
I approach these pirates and offer them the following deal:
If a trader doesn't pay up and has to be destroyed, I can collect, launder and sell the cargo he was carrying and cut you 50% of the total profit.
I, the Junker, do not personally engage any traders and I stay off the radars (14k+) from the raiders until I am called to perform a drive-by scoopup of the loot and tick off with it.
I do my best to ensure no one sees me working with the pirates. The only way to know would be deemed meta-gaming (ie. me being in group with the pirates).
An example:
Am I open to a sanction report if someone catches me out?
This is how things should be done anyways, I used to hang out with pirate groups all the time to haul off cargo for them, but because a few little brats complained, we've now got the rules crawling up our arses every time we do anything even remotely related to piracy.
I think it should be fine, you arent involved in the piracy at all, you're just profiting on scrap floating in space, that's what junkers do. However, the admins may or may not have different views on that, so until one of them gives a straight up answer I'd suggest refraining from even looking the same direction as a pirate >.>
Personally I think it's fine, I mean it's not like your pirating them and it promotes RP at least between the Junker and Pirate; however I do believe that if you assist the Pirate in anyway either against the Trader (Including giving bots and such) I think that's not.
I think i've worked with Phate in a similar situation, tho i was in radar range and in group with them, i said nothing offending to the traders and haven't fired a single shot. Later some liberty officers came and questioned me about the issue, i ofcourse denied everything, no proof no problem, i did nothing in fact except collecting some cargo, when some traders were in for a run from the pirates (note that this was far before the rule came). So in rp there is nearly no way to prove that you were helping them.
Nowadays i think you can still be there in case you clearly state that you're not participating in the pirating. But an admin clarification would be nice before someone gets sanctioned in case we were wrong and you can't be even in the same group or in radar range. Still i think we can't be wrong in this case otherwise any junker can be reported if he is in group with a well known pirate, the same would apply to innocent "bystanders", like a junker also gets dropped from the tradelane where someone is getting robbed.
I don`t see any problem you take a loot that is floating on space, but one question is need to be made.
Where will you sell that loot? on a coorporation base or planet? One thing that is on junker <strike>ID</strike> intel is that they are enemies of house corporations, so will you land on an enemy base? You gonna sell the loot on your enemies bases?
I think what is best in this situation is if the Junker in question pulls her hat down over her eyes and wanders off with her hands in her pockets, ignoring the piracy and acting innocent at a few k range. After the deed is done, swoop in, grab the cargo, and run off.
It is, however, difficult to hang around police when you're waiting for pirates to get done pirating. If the pirates are anywhere nearby, the police will likely be annoyed with the pirates, yes? The trader would naturally whine to them, even if they're not in sensor range.
That is, unless you're in Kusari, but you don't go into Kusari on a Junker.