Bots as registered users?

[schlamm]

Registered users: Bing [Bot], schlamm, Yahoo [Bot]
This is a bit concerning for anyone who had believed a closed board requiring registration would provide any sort of anonymity

[bogbud]

There are a lot more and also [spiders]. I don't even have an idea what these do.
This is a totally public and open place here and every post can be found on Google.

[Fred588]

There are a lot more and also [spiders]. I don't even have an idea what these do.
This is a totally public and open place here and every post can be found on Google.

It is true that every post is indexed on Google. It is also true that the results of a Google search include a portion of the post inself. However, if you click on a Google link and you are not a member, or if your browser does not automatically execute a log in, you do not have access to the full posts. Instead you get a page that says it is a membership site and you must register to gain access.

[dlodoski]

There are a lot more and also [spiders]. I don't even have an idea what these do.
This is a totally public and open place here and every post can be found on Google.

It is true that every post is indexed on Google. It is also true that the results of a Google search include a portion of the post inself. However, if you click on a Google link and you are not a member, or if your browser does not automatically execute a log in, you do not have access to the full posts. Instead you get a page that says it is a membership site and you must register to gain access.

This is true regarding posts in the Producer Area. Posts (minus images) in the Public Area are are view-able by non-members.

Regarding bots having access to the board, this is normal (default) behavior for the forum software. We never saw any reason to switch it off. The internet has been around long enough for people to realize/know that anything posted to the internet at large is essentially public and will always be 'somewhere' (the Way Back Machine is a good example of this).

[schlamm]

My curiosity was regarding how a bot would complete the registration process, I hold no illusions with regard to being an enigma

[dlodoski]

My curiosity was regarding how a bot would complete the registration process, I hold no illusions with regard to being an enigma

I suspect that big boys like that have default accounts coded into the board software, probably with IP filtering involved, to keep out fake bots.