That is a good point. If you play a standard outlaw, you won't be able to enter UEE space, at least in your own ship, and since they have treaties with the Xi'an and Banu, you might not be welcome there either. The Vanduul are already most unwelcoming, so basically you're relegated to the small handful of unaligned worlds. I think if what you want is real profits you may be better off pirating more discreetly, and making the Vanduul your primary target. At least there is no loss for them being all pissed at you, and the galaxy is your oyster. And really aren't pirates a lot like the Vanduul? Who is going to be upset with those who prey upon the pirates?
I was just wondering yesterday if you went to a comm station with a Warlock and slapped 4 Pirate Bucks asleep, then a friend came in with a Reclaimer and towed them all inside, do you get to keep the goodies? I'll bet you could cut those cans open fast enough to stop the self-destruct. You'd have a near endless supply of Bucks. It wouldn't even matter when they got all blown up--you just get in another.
Taking a handful of support ships to unaligned worlds like Oberon you could set up a piratical kingdom that is mostly at peace with all but the Vanduul. From there you could prey upon pirates in Fora, and Vanduul across their entire Southern boarder. You could trade with the Banu at Trise and mine Leir until they get smart and you swat them into submission, and then with one blow carve out a new empire there and to the West. And if the odd Javelin or Bengal went missing with all those F8's while struggling against the Vanduul. . .well. . .it would be rude of the UEE to ask if we'd seen it. . .
Really if you want intrigue, you could set the Leirians and Banu against the Vanduul and each other and end up dominant power over all three. The thing is you need to be able to kill Vanduul with true expertise. . .but you can get paid to develop that in Vega, and that totally makes you the good guys with the UEE, no matter whom else you need to dispatch with extreme prejudice.