I have started a 5 star Unfair game against 8 opponents with Active Pirates.  I'm working on a bulletproof strategy to defeat the pirates once and for all and believe I can coerce the Pirate AI to actually begin working for me in a long run.

Basically I do the following: 

- First I build a few navigators - to find out where the Pirate home planet is in my current system (this is KEY, find it SOON)

- Second I build my Capital Ship factory and pump out my free Colonizer and take the nearest planet with it. 

-  I then concentrate all my empire on building my lowest level attack frigate.

-  By now your scout ships should have located the Pirate Planet!!

-  Make the spawn point for your frigate factory - The Pirate Planet and send ships one at a time to their death.  It lets the pirates know that I have no regard for the lives of my men, so am probably too crazy to attack.

So far I keep getting attacked but I'm hopeful that my complete crass disregard for the lives of my men will force them to cease such activities.  I'm also working on a cannon that can fire orphans of my planets at the sun which I will Youtube and send the Pirates the URL for so they can be in further awe of my power.

Untill then I am researching the Novalith cannon on my nearest asteroid planetoid which I will then shoot at my Capital planet the next time a Pirate Fleet attacks it. 

Wish me luck!