No, he cannot. Copying the manual without buying it is copyright infringement, essentially the theft of information from its owner. Renting a manual with the intent to steal the information is mail fraud, a federal offense.
I know this is not a popular stance, but if we're gonna convince the public to treat us as good citizens deserving of our bandwidth, we need to at least act the part.
The Eternal Squire
P.S. Good gosh, isn't poverty expensive?