It is less OORP for Liberty to defend its capital system with a fleet of ships than it is for you to attack Planet Manhattan in a light fighter. Patrols of capital ships are done both in SP and by NPCs in Discovery - if it wasn't for the fact that NPC capital ships are borderline-useless you wouldn't even last long enough for the independents to arrive. Individual pirates should stick to the lawless border worlds - if you attack a house's capital planet then you are GOING to get outclassed. You don't get to set the rules of engagement to your liking when you invade someone's territory.
No longer active online due to a dwindling amount of non-PvP (trading, pirating, mining, etc.) fun in the new version.