Will Beckcom donate his fee to piracy victims? Do not hold your breath

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Having Tom Hanks playing you in a movie must be unusual, to say the least, but in terms of weirdness it pales by comparison to the news that former crew members are suing you for being subject to an act of piracy. Yet that is what several members of Maersk Alabama crew have done – launching a suit in a US court accusing Captain Richard Philips (hero of the recently released eponymous film starring Hanks in the title role) of deliberately risking their lives by sailing too close to the coast of Somalia. US lawyer John Carter has produced a magnificent piece of polemic decrying the action and the lawyer behind it.