question about /etc/passwd entries

[Mike Mueller <mjm-58@mindspring.com>]

Why does my 2.2r6 system need a user called bin?

Why is the following entry in /etc/passwd in my 2.2r6?

bin:*:11812:0:99999:7:::

I am asking about this entry as a representative for others like it.  I've 
seen these entries referred to as virtual or pseudo users in some Google 
searches.  I thought they may be for setuid purposes but

$ find / -user bin -ls

yields no files owned by bin

I though it might exist for authentication purposes, but the /etc/shadow file 
for bin has a splat for a passwd which I interpret to mean that no one can 
log in with that username.

I am stuck trying to figure this out.  Any help would be a relief.
-- 
mueller, mike

The larger purpose of the economic order, including Wall Street, is to 
support the material conditions for human existence, not to undermine and 
destabilize them.

-Editorial, The Nation, August 19, 2002