Hogosha Id: Law enforcement and Extortion

[WesternPeregrine]

So I have a question about a potential situation that could appear to a Hogosha player. First, let's take a look at the current id: 1 2

- Can demand cargo and credits from ship outside of Kusari space, and attack them if they do not comply. Ships belonging to Samura are exempted from this.

- Can demand contraband and levy fines, destroying ships that refuse to comply and as specified within house space as specified by house law.

Now the hypothetical scenario is this:

A Hogosha pilot spots a smuggler in Kusari space carrying illegal/restricted commodities and stops him. However, instead of acting as a cop, he demands instead some "protection money", as he is a member of the organization that "controls the Kusari black market" and wants his cut of the trade. He also says that he the smuggler doesn't pay the protection money, the hogosha will be forced to act as a defender of the order and law of Kusari, and force him to surrender the contraband and pay a heavier fine.
Subsequent refusal of the bribe would bring the "demand contraband and levy fines" action into effect, which could make the smuggler a valid target if he refused or tried to escape.

So the question is: Can hogosha request/extort a bribe from law offending ships (and these only) inside Kusari, or would it be considered piracy, for he hasn't acted as a law enforcer?

This is without considering specific inrp cases (dislike for drugs contraband, agreements with specific factions).

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[Mercarryn]

Those two lines are not meant to overlap, which means, the Hogosha can only demand contraband and fines within house space defined by server rules. And he also has to act according to the set up Kusari inRP house laws.

Outside Kusari space, the contraband-and-fines line is void, INSTEAD, he can now pirate a trader.

Therefore, your theoretical scenario is on border line to ID violation and sanctionable.

On the other hand:

Outside Kusari house space, a Hogosha could act towards a smuggler as if he tries to enforce the house law of Kusari, but in the end it would be piracy. This scenario should be ok according to server rules. I have already played that RP during the Liberty embargo against Liberty traders (bandit)

[Nightingale]

Well, the Hogosha, as well as the Junkers, got a bit screwed over when their ID's got limited ZOI to begin with, which means that any credit demands, bribes included would have to be done outside their restricted areas. The ID itself doesn't really allow for any broader interpretation. In a RP sense, it'd be perfectly within character as long as, like you said, it doesn't go against the Hogosha code, though the ID is set in stone with regards to how and where they can pirate. Protection money demands are more or less credit piracy with a fancier title, since they work along more or less the same lines.

However, if the Hogosha pilot hinted at the possibility of a bribe to look the other way, and the smuggler then were to offer the Hogosha pilot a bribe... That'd be perfectly valid, in my opinion. Bribes are meant to work that way around, anyway.

Personally I'd like to see the restrictions on piracy on the Hogosha as well as the Junker ID removed, if only for cargo or credit piracy. Speaking as a long-time RP-based trader, it'd be nice with the variety. Though that is a discussion for another thread.