Many associate MP3s with pirates, but usually the association comes from pirated music downloaded in MP3 format from the Internet. This news however is very different. We’re talking about the sea faring, cutthroat pirates that smuggle and steal, and the MP3 is a sonic blast played on an MP3 player to defeat the pirates.

If only Orlando Bloom had thought of that!

A British security firm has created a ‘sonic laser’ which can be used at sea to thwart pirates from stealing treasure, of sorts. You may think that pirates aren’t such a big problem anymore, but you’d be wrong. In the Gulf of Aden, just off Africa, piracy at sea is rife.

The MP3 plan involves a long range acoustic device (LRAD) which is attached to a simple MP3 player, or even a cheap iPod. The equipment is the same size a satellite dish and can emit a painful noise to fend off pirates if they get too close.

The security firm, Anti-Piracy Maritime Security Solutions (APMSS), uses three man teams to help shipping companies ward off pirates with the MP3 player technology, and they’ve been inundated with work off the east coast of Africa.