Idea: "Stolen ship" should be a gameplay feature
So whenever you take control of a ship you don't own, you could still fly it and use it, but when you get scanned by authorities (either at a UEE station or in UEE controlled space), you get a crime rating with all its consequences.
Goes for GameRules ships as well - after all, in real life, if you find an abandoned vehicle, you can't just take ownership of it.
Salvaging components could still be a thing - maybe introduce unique identifiers for major parts like shield gen or QT drive, which could be scanned (maybe it would take longer?) and give you a crime rating if reported missing.
Which reminds me - you should report your ship missing, thereby activating above consequences. Until you report it missing (at an admin center?), it won't register as stolen.
This could also lead to additional gameplay loops:
- bounty-hunters could scan ships to see if stolen
- hackers could grant temporary "passes" to pass detection
- stolen ships could be boarded and reclaimed and returned to the owner (or a dedicated station) for a finder's fee
- Pyro could have a surge of new inhabitants with "Unknown origin" ships