In the vanilla version of Freelancer, they really had no real interest in being there personally as their artifact route was handled through third parties and they could still turn a profit that way.
Now with the Artifact prices as they are they can't really make any real money unless they smuggle into Liberty - thus, you will occasionally see Corsairs in Liberty. It's a fact of the mod, and for the Corsairs, its one of their economic lifelines, they will occasionally be there.
What they should;nt be doing is going in there en masse, invading etc etc, they have enough to worry about closer to home then to send an invasion fleet, but a trader and a reasoneble escort or two is still sneaky enough.
As for the Alaska route - this goes back to that old thread about who can/cant/should/shouldnt use that route. I dont see why a Corsair wouldnt try it - They know the route, they're allied with the Order, who everyone conceded had the Jumpgate codes for NY - I dont think its unreasonable that a Corsair would try it.
That being said, you CAN smuggle from Omega 5 to Texas and make almost as much money - AND not get spotted by any lawfuls... if you're sneaky enough:)
