I'm trying to get a PAUSE id so I can report this as a bug on CPAN.

That isn't necessary as the RT home page explains. You will need a Bitcard or OpenID account if you wish to use the web interface to report a bug in a module. Either of those will be faster to obtain than a PAUSE account (and useful in a wider number of places into the bargain). But of course, you can always use the email interface to report a bug without any account at all.