I am probably the only person who ever replied like this to such assignments.
It’s just that, in my opinion, an instructor who asks his/her students to use a particular software is compelled to provide for them a copy of the software or at least a source where they can get a copy. Furthermore, being in education, the copy should be legitimate or else risk being a bad influence to his/her constituents.
Piracy is not an alternative and I do not want to be an educated pirate.
How can we, as academics, condemn plagiarism and not piracy? In essence, they are the same — making use of a legal intellectual property without credit — only that in software, credit is in the form of currency.
Seriously, if I don’t get an alternative or a legitimate copy, I will not do the Machine Problem.
Feel free to comment. 