Yes, we talked about it in here:

http://www.rennteam.com/showflat.php?Cat=0&Board=997&Number=67911&page=1&fpart=5

If its true, there has to be more for it to be confirmed though, its a real kick to the stomach of their customer base, there is absolutely no excuse to carry a "known" design flaw into a new model. They must think its more profitable to replace the seal that are on warranty that to re-design the engine, and so they did al the way through the 986 and 966's life span. But I wonder if they have weighed the damage to their image in their customer's eyes and brand loyalty, specially if they on top of it don't bother to fix it in the new model either.
But like I said, its to early to pass judgement on the 997. We don't want to jump into conclusions. Won't take long to find out anuway.