My understanding is this has something to do with zeroconfig networking. This is what allows Win 2000+ and Mac OSX boxes to be configured in a network with no ip setup or dhcp servers. It is intended for seting up a small network with little knowledge of how networks work. Just plug a crossover cable between two systems and, bang, instant network.
To disable this change your /etc/sysconfig/network-scripts/ifcfg-eth* file to include the line:
NOZEROCONF='yes'
Hope that helps.