Thus far, it seems like most of this piracy has affected commercial shipping and civilian vessels. It seems likely that eventually, somebody is going to hijack the wrong boat and the owners will turn out to be willing to retaliate with excessive force, at which point innocent bystanders - for example, anyone else living in Haradheere - will get dragged into the conflict and lose their lives as a result.
I talked with a shipping guy a while ago - they are used to paying "fines" of 25K up just to pass through. He also said that they never arm the ships - it would just lead to escalation and he did not want his crews harmed.
The ransom amount is minute compared to the value of the goods on board. It's gotten to the point where it's a regular business. You don't expect or assume they will start randomly gunning people down. Just pay the money and get the hell outta there.
I also assume the pirates sort of know what they are looking for. It's pretty obvious which ships are armed navies and which aren't. Private companies aren't allowed to level a city unless the management want to be dragged down to the Hague for some 'splaining.
And any cargo that is worth defending (nuclear, weapons, etc.) can hire mercenaries like Blackwater.
