Hack raises a really good point and it's completely accurate.
Why should we pay a pirate if all he does is open fire before even finding out if we're willing to cooperate? You scratch my hull and then you can screw off, you ain't getting my money that's for sure.
Now on the other hand, if a pirate disrupts my lane and actually, you know, Roleplays, I'll pay him with little to no resistance, and heck, even on my LPI I've let pirates go if they weren't causing any trouble.
Edit: Also it seems to me that alot of the pirates who open fire on a trader first, before talking to them, seem to be the ones who complain the most, now look, If you're gonna shoot at me without telling me what the heck you want first? of course I'm gonna run! for all I know you aren't robbing me, you want me dead, Roleplay and you'll get somewhere, Shoot at somebody before speaking, you'll get a dead trader, I for one can't type as fast as a barrage of weapons fire.