1. The commercial development of naturally occurring biological materials (ethnobiological and ethnozoological), such as plant substances or genetic cell lines, by a technologically advanced country, or commercial organization, without fair compensation to the peoples or nations in whose territory the materials were originally discovered: Ethnothievery was explained in John's book in a very short and simple way as taking away valuable information or things and using them for gaining profit without asking for permission.
2. Bioprospecting: One form of ethnopiracy includes the collecting and testing of biological samples (plants, animals, micro-organisms) and the collecting of indigenous knowledge to help in discovering and exploiting genetic or biochemical resources with the primarily economic purposes of producing new drugs, crops, industrial products, etc.