goonswarm did it first

Yes, unfortunately they did. Just a few weeks after the New Eden Asteroid Preservation Society was established with the purpose of creating a licensing service by which the wanton destruction that is mining would be tolerated only through expensive licenses, Goonswarm launched their campaign into highsec complete with a scheme for extortion with a similar mechanic--yet completely different intent--to that of NEAPS. Unfortunately after the Goons' concerted efforts, it has been difficult for this small organization to make headway in its attempts at environmental regulation.

Still, I continue to applaud the efforts of the Goons. They might be motivated by profit, but their actions continue to help preserve the natural beauty of New Eden by reducing the number of active miners. And when they have moved on to other projects, NEAPS will become active and begin its work in earnest.

How successful is it to ransom miners in hi-sec? This means not being able to web or scram until negotiations have failed

Would miners actually bite and pay up?

....I've got an urge to load Green pixelated missiles into my launchers, go up to some miners, , lock them, and send them a messgae of "That ssssure issss a nicssse sssshipyou've got there....be a sssshame if ssssomething happened to it....".

Ah, Minecraft. How well you work with EVE.

You can't really ransom people who you aren't scramming.

You should get out of the house more often.