Generally what is meant by "bribe politicians" is twofold. The first aspect is campaign contributions, which help keep the politician in office. But the second one is post-legislature work. A former Senator just got made MPAA head, and similar things happen throughout the business sector - get defeated in the polls (or don't run for reelection) and move over to a cushy job on a corporate board or as figurehead of an industry group, where you get paid a 6-figure sum for easy and part-time work. Both of these are perfectly legal if unseemly.

I agree that it may also be about agents who want to further their careers - because the punishments for copyright violation are so high, it probably looks just as good on the CV as a successful DDOS or spam case, and it's probably markedly easier.