[INTERFACES] JDBC escape problem

I'm encountering a problem with the implementation of escapes using
the 6.5 JDBC driver.  If I attempt to insert a timestamp value using
the following syntax, I get an error from the postgreSQL parser complaining
about the '{' character:
 stmt.executeUpdate("insert into tstest values ( { ts '1999-07-07 00:00:00' } )");

However, the following statement works:
 stmt.executeUpdate("insert into tstest values ( '{ ts 1999-07-07 00:00:00 }' )");

Unfortunately, the former is the correct syntax where the second isn't.

>From what I could determine tracing the code, there is no escape processing
performed in the PostgreSQL jdbc driver, and the error is originating from the
database backend.

I thought it unusual that I didn't see reference to this problem in the mail
archives (though I admit I only went back a few months).  Is this a known
problem?  

What are the consequences of fixing it in the back-end?  Will it break other 
drivers that depend on this syntax?  

Any advise would be appreciated.

Thanks in advance,

rc