I hate to be laying down rules, but it seems that some candidates are forgetting something:
You have agreed to the confidentiality agreement with Sun So - what does this mean?
No discussing the assignment I hope that the rules will be relaxed when the
SCEA 5 assignment comes out of beta so that people can discuss the business domain and any confusing terms, but right now there can be no such discussions.
No collaboration on the assignment I cannot believe that candidates are seriously talking about collaborating.
Everybody who has completed part I has done really well. And to complete part II on your own will be a fantastic achievement. But in my opinion if you don't do part II on your own, then you are lowering the level of achievement.
In addition you will be lowering the value of the SCEA certification in the eyes of the world. Instead of your peers looking at this as a hard certification that requires a strong effort, they will look at it as a collaborative effort that has little to no value.
Likewise you will be ensuring that future candidates have a much harder time since the passing scores and the text of the assignment will be based on your submissions and feedback to Sun.
Note that these 2 statements do not comprise "the rules". The rule is that you have agreed to keep the beta assignment confidential. Anything breaching that confidentiality will be deleted. Anything suggesting you would be willing to breach that confidentiality will be deleted.
Wishing you all success.
Andrew