I’ve shut down the ‘blog@’ e-mail address I used exclusively for leaving comments on other people’s blogs. I’d started getting ~25 spam e-mails a day at that address and decided to kill it before it got out of hand. Spam seems to grow exponentially. 
Now e-mail to that address will bounce with a message and a link to the contact form; just in case it’s from a real person.
Since leaving an e-mail address when adding comments on blogs has shown itself to be unsafe, I will continue to use the ‘blog@’ address whenever an e-mail address is required. On a related note, I still don’t understand why someone would make an e-mail address required for adding a comment.
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Michael Heilemann adds this Comment:
I make it required, because first of all WordPress doesn’t show mail addresses ever. And because you can’t require name and _not_ require mail addresses in 1.2…
August 20th, 2004 at 11:45 am
Alex adds this Comment:
Versions of WP prior to 1.2 did show the e-mail address in the default implementation. Having the e-mail address required to require to name doesn’t make sense to me.
August 20th, 2004 at 2:22 pm
Jem adds this Comment:
Ahh well that’s how it is these days. I posted the rabies story in my blog, click my name for my URL and read & comment on it, thanks.
August 20th, 2004 at 7:14 pm
Kevin LaCoste adds this Comment:
I can’t understand this either. While WP 1.2 may get this right in the default install there’s simply no telling how people might customize it. Most of the MT blogs I frequent seem guilty of allowing email addresses to be exposed as well. Not cool.
One example which uses WP and exposes email addresses, off the top of my head is Kyotown. I’ve been meaning to mention this to them but it slipped my mind until now…
August 20th, 2004 at 10:14 pm
Geof adds this Comment:
I require it, but only for my own nefarious purposes.
August 21st, 2004 at 9:59 am
Leo adds this Comment:
Interesting. With comment spam getting worse and worse, more people are just getting rid of comments…. how unfortunate.
August 21st, 2004 at 3:39 pm
Michael adds this Comment:
I don’t understand why name and mail go together in 1.2 either, but since you’re a dev, you can make it go away in 1.3
August 22nd, 2004 at 2:46 am