its usually used for EMI (electromagnetic interference, IIRC).
you Amiga emits various frequencies. If you try to listen to radio while Amiga is on, you'll notice the noise. metal shielding acts as 'Faraday cage' to stop EMI coming in or out of it.
It also acts as plain protection and its 'earthed'
edit: bah, slow again :roll:
BTW, I had interference problems with radio even when shielding is on.
the Faraday cage is supposed to protect you 100% only for 'static' fields, I think (unlike EM). so it only limits the EMI