We do alot of 'can flipping/flagging/swapping' either during slow wars or between wars (I wont call it ore theft because most of the time we will blow the can up, especially if the miner isnt biting), I think the reason it's looked down on so much is because (if you are align-stealing in a hauler) theres
usually little risk and the theif stays docked up for the rest of the timer. Typically most jet canners are noobs and/or npc corp.
I guess the difference between ore theives and can flippers is a can flipper will eject his own can, move the ore into that and hang around for the fireworks
Personally (and this isnt something my corp enforces, just personal preferance) I wont flip jet canners flying anything smaller than a Destroyer/Cruiser - I'm not however picky about character age (they have to learn sooner or later) and while NPC corps are prefered (to avoid more surprises than what ship the guy might come back in) we do flip player corps (especially mining ops) if we're pretty sure we can solo them before backup arrives. Mining battleships (hopefully flown by people who purchased their account) are the best
http://www.battleclinic.com/eve_online/pk/view.php?type=player&name=putit%20inme&filter=losses&id=3075465#mail (thats no ordinary Apoc!)
If I find someone ratting in a half decent frigate (Kestrel or Merlin for e.g.) I'd probably steal their loot to see if I can get a fight out of them (tends to get more bites than can flipping as the 'victim' thinks hes got a decent combat fit) and
usually we try and achieve the kill in the smallest ship possible (Crows are good for this, I said small not fair!).
Its probably worth noting that alot of our empire war targets are determined by the amount of smack we get during can flips - the more smack the more likely they are of seeing more of us (plus we already know where they hang out).
On the flip side if someone is a good sport about it all I'm happy to give them pointers on ship fitting and how not to get hit next time, hell the last guy I killed I ended up giving him 5mil (he lost an Osprey and a Kestrel) because he was a really good sport about it.
Every once in a while you get some brave soul who thinks he can take it back and get away with it
http://kb.evefan.dk/?a=kill_detail&kll_id=22(they put some mercs on us after this so we went to war with them after the mercs were gone)
Each pilot on the kill made 30mil each off the loot - ironically in chat afterwards he said he'd have paid 500mil ransom (unfortunately it was the first command ship we'd fought and I wanted the killmail) :-(
it's all pretty cut and dry, however, I am not clear on a few points:
1. If you loot someone's wreck / cargo container, you are red to them (able to be attacked). Are you red to their corp and/or their fleet / will they get concorded if they attack?
2. If you attack someone who looted you, so that they are red to you for 15m, does that make you able to be attacked freely by their corp and / or fleet?
3. If someone loots your wreck or container, does that make him able to be attacked by just your corp, your fleet, or only yourself?
I know the general rule is "If they aren't flashing red, you will get concorded if you attack". Who gets attack rights, when?
1. If they are in a player corp you are flagged to the whole corp (but not any alliance they are part of) but not any non-corp gang mates
2. No, if you attack a flagged target only that target can shoot you - the 'victim' is always in control of who can shoot him back
3. Inverse of 1. - Your whole corp can attack him
One of my guys in his early days flipped some guys can, the timer ran out, the guy came back in a Badger with 2 Ravens as backup. The Badger took back (and died) the Ravens thought they could now engage and got concorded (
http://www.eve-pirate.com/index.php?/archives/790-The-last-wednesday-of-the-every-month-Payday.html)
Here are some freebies
If a secure container is not anchored (lights are green) it can be stolen from just like a jet can (this will flag you) alternatively you could just scoop the can itself (which will _not_ flag you) - Secure containers cannot be anchored above 0.8 space!
If you are worried about getting someone flipping your can and you not noticing _
never_ turn of the "theft" warning or dont jet can mine! (best thing is to mine with a hauler buddy, just use a bookmark or 1 unit of non-ore to keep the can open and grab the ore as soon as it hits the can - lag means that this is not 100% foolproof as I have stolen from people doing this in the past)
and if you want to can flip/ore steal beware of 'bait' cans/ship - the Osprey can be a formidable opponent when _not_ fitted for mining and beware of cloakers
For those wondering why we don't go to lowsec......we do, and its typically empty unless you go to one of the 'hotspot' systems in which case youre probably going home in a pod or worse (we're a very small fish in that very big pond), then theres the sec hit to consider (I'm -1.3 currently).
Having said all that we don't get loads of kills from can flipping, partly because I'm neg sec and have a bounty, partly because in the area we typically flip we're quite known for it and partly because the victims learn quickly and pass their knowledge on so you do get diminishing returns on the time invested if you always flip in the same patch of space (and the loot is typically junk most of the time - although we do like T2 stip miners on those rare occasions you can get a barge pilot to play)
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