I steal things because I'm in quite a crappy situation, and can't pay for things in a store myself, and everyone thinks I'm crazy if I simply ask for it, so I resort to stealing.
Not a crappy situation, but moreover an inconvenient one (also, please note that life has priorities, but I understand that way you feel). I could ask and no-one would think I am crazy but simply deny because of what is happening. Also, piracy isn't theft, it's piracy. Theft removes the original product, piracy makes an illegitimate copy.
I'm not complaining, because I know pirating content has it's downs (and now that I think about it, asking this probably wasn't a necessary being that you want your project to prosper and not be K.I.A like Alter). Considering the direction this mod goes in, purchasing MW2 could be a good idea.
But the main thing I want to know is was this verification business because of the C&D, or did you intend to have this in Alter but couldn't?