Pirate colony tech is the colonization technology for the pirate race. Without it they are a true pirate race and must capture colony ships in order to colonize planets. This is more for role playing than for praticle play. I would strongly suggest that any race that opts to play as a pirate race consider using the Pirate Colony Tech otherwise the game will not be much fun.
I will review the Pirate trait and make adjustments for the next version of the mod that will allow for faster research when it comes to capture technology and weapons. But in the mean time.... USE PIRATE COLONY TECH. Oops I see it is excluded by the rules this time out. Role play then.
And good luck.