It’s not at all like embezzling, because that will reduce a companies profit, even if it does remain positive, but faking being a student, if you were not going to buy it unless you got the discount will increase the software companies profit. Unless of course the student price is too low for the company to make a…

Sure you can!  Just do it.  They’ll never catch you.

Exactly. They make money two ways, one of which might be extremely profitable over the students lifetime. The average student isn’t going to buy the software package for the full price. So the discounted price they do pay is actually pure high profit sales dollars. This is assuming that each incremental license sold…

Your life doesn’t have to suck that much at all to save $900 on Matlab. I’m generally an honest person. but I can live with myself after doing this. I’m not going to buy it for $1.000. but WILL for $100.  Matlab actually comes out $100 ahead.  And I’m totally serious.  But, could I go to Hell for doing this?