Well, four weeks later, there seems to be no progress in fixing this problem, and folks are still signing up with their email address as their user name - and having it exposed to the Internet and search-bots - even though they have chosen to keep it 'hidden' in another field.

I am about to escalate this by personally emailing those affected to alert them to the situation.

Paul

Somehow I doubt that 30% of the new members of CNR.com, since the start of October 2008, would have some such purpose in mind.

What I think is more likely is that they are simply unaware of the default setting of using their email addess as the log-in identity and then allowing that sensitive data to be searched by the search-bots and displayed for all to see on the Internet.

I have consistently asked that this insecure default setting be fixed and am still waiting, after several months.

What I propose to do is to email all those whose email addresses are out in the wild. Then we will get some real feed-back as to how they view this breech of security here.

Paul

E-mail spam, also known as "bulk e-mail" or "junk e-mail," is a subset of spam that involves nearly identical messages sent to numerous recipients by e-mail.
A common synonym for spam is unsolicited bulk e-mail (UBE). Definitions
of spam usually include the aspects that email is unsolicited and sent
in bulk. "UCE" refers specifically to "unsolicited commercial e-mail."

Unsolicited is the only criteria that would fit, but, since I would be doing them a service in notifying them of a situation that is detrimental to their interests, I don't expect any flack from the recipients.

Paul

Ps. While researching for my answer I discovered a new approach to eliminating SPAM altogether, something that I have advocated for in the past on SpamCop forums.

Spam Problem to be Solved Once and For All by Patent Pending Methodology From CapeMax

BERLIN, Conn., Oct 16, 2008 /PRNewswire via COMTEX/ --
CapeMax, LLC proposes to solve the
global spam problem once and for all by employing a new patent pending
methodology. This methodology deals with the fundamental issues that allow
spammers to dominate today's email system. It will be able to realistically
hold spammers accountable, enforce penalties, progressively isolate spammers
and ultimately create a spam-free email environment. In addition, the
methodology is designed to provide significant time saving functionality and
address deeper aspects of the spam problem, specifically issues with
permission based email marketing and phishing schemes.

Key aspects of how this new methodology works from a user's perspective
are illustrated in 3 online demonstrations at http://www.CapeMax.com.

This new approach to the spam problem is being introduced through
CapeMax's "Vote To Fine Spammers" campaign and the respective website
http://www.VoteToFineSpammers.com