What I have noticed, is that if a host has chat enabled, then it is likeley that you can browse them. HOWEVER it is almost certain you won't be able to chat with them! It seems more likely that you will be able to browse a host from the Search tab than the Monitor tab even if the same host appears in both tabs. (Put anotherway if you are downloading from a host it is more likely you can browze them, than if they are uploading from you.)

I do not believe that this is due to any matter of choice by the hosts concerned, but rather a fault in the system which should be addressed.

~I understand that chat and browsing are low on Limewires priorities, but it is something they should be paying more attention to for the benefiet of those who want to do more on the network than d/l the latest offering by Will Young.

I know I can dissable my own chat, but have no idea how to stop people browzing my files.
I do not know if others can browze my files, although it seems, from educated guessing that they can. Perhaps some can and some can't.
I hope some one from Gnutella/Limewire stumbles on this and gives it some consideration.