That is exactly what I was thinking. We would do quite a bit of smuggling, maybe some under the tables assassinations, aid the KNF at times, etc. There are a lot of possibilities. I don't think that open piracy is a great idea though, at least not among any Kusari factions. The Hogosha are supposed to be a major factor in the stability of Kusari.
I'm talking with Lotek right now trying to figure out how to handle the "untouchable" factor that the Hogosha has with they Kusari gov. I think it would have to be a sort of "we ignore you, you ignore us" kind of thing. You know, since there really isn't any feasible way to reflect bribes in game, at least not among the player chars.