I also have the academic version and I don't remember having to enter hardware info. Create an Avid account and an ilok account first:
https://www.avid.com/US/Account/orie...%2faccountinfo
https://www.ilok.com/cgi-bin/WebObje...erRegistration
After you log in to your Avid account look for
My products/download and activate my product.
Enter your code from the card and it will ask your for an ilok id, type your newly created ilok id from the previous steps. After this go to ilok.com and download the license to your ilok
Thats it, same process I did, granted I already owned PT8LE and mbox 2 and had both accounts. I bought the boxed version.
Do you own an ilok or did you buy the boxed version?