@meer
Having never seen or heard of such a request, I can't say whether it is, or is not true. Is it so hard to believe however that this is yet another instance where things are being blown way, way out of context?
If, for example, Eyetech and Hyperion have "100" bug reports on one known problem and tell their beta testers that "we are aware of this problem and will be fixing it shortly, but in the meantime, please don't make a big deal out of this." that really would constitute being asked to "keep things quiet". However, in context, it's a perfectly rational request.