I've participated in half a hundred PvP fights, lost every single one of them, and have never had an issue with it. I've been pirated plenty of times too -- no problems with it.
If you roleplay a Zoner you know that he/she is bound to get shot at just as much as most folks -- nobody takes their neutrality seriously.
That's not why a lot of Zoner players got pissed though. I could go into a very long reason why, but nobody here would really care one way or the other. But your apology is appreciated, sir.