I would like to know too.
In IE6, it was pretty simple to access FTP sites (for occasional use). However, in IE7 suddenly this simple task has become a problem, and one of the workarounds appears to be to add the ftp site to Network Places using Windows Explorer. While doing this for one of our staff, I found that the default option in the Add NW Place to be this MSN Comm. At work I normally uninstall/disable, as soon as a new pc is delivered, MSN explorer, MS messenger and any other MS related unnecessary programs, and I would prefer not to have this option. Unfortunately a google search leads nowhere (No - right back here) and there is nothing at Msft's site relating to removal or unistallation of this option.