In a match where Pirates have been turned off a TEC player has an option to adjust their strategy. A standard build for a Pirate-Enabled game would be a Capital Ship Factory and 2 Civic Research Stations. This gives you the ability to up your economy very early in the game and letting you control the Pirate bid by selling extra metal and crystal. It is obvious this becomes less effective in the mid to late game as Pirates are now just free experience. By changing your strategy slightly you can gain an offensive instead of economic advantage since the need for an economy is lessened in a Pirate-Disabled match.
By scuttling your original Capital Ship Factory and manufacturing a new one later when you have the economy to build more Caps you can add a single Military Lab. Or forgoing a single Civic Structure, two Military Labs in total. This opens many tactical options early on, as both the Long Range Frigate and Siege Frigate ship classes can be quickly unlocked. These will enable you to expand your empire at a faster rate than your opponent's. However this strategy yields it's own share of risk, as well as rewards. Your economy will have a hard time getting those planets developed and out of the red zone, so you may be in a position that you have less territory than your opponent and your economy may be worse off if handled poorly. A major liability considering that the TEC greatest advantage is it's superior economic potential.
It all comes down to personal preference and tactical options.