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No matter what the dealers or Ducati say - this has been a problem with the modern (since at least 2002, probably earlier) Ducati air-cooled engine.
They ARE prone to flaky engine paint. I am surprised (well actually probably not) that this problem is still going on 6 years or more later.
My 2002 620ie suffered from this (after only 6,000 miles or so); they replaced the engine casings under warranty. I emailed Ducati UK directly and politely explained the situation to them. They really had no choice but to co-operate as it was obvious to the dealer who inspected the bike that it had been immaculately maintained, so it was unequivocally a manufacturing or design issue.
Many people have had this problem, but I suspect that not enough people complain so it is still cheaper for Ducati to ignore the problem than to fix it.
If you bike is still under warranty and you can clearly demonstrate that the bike has not be subject to adverse conditions than you should have a case.
One point that is worth mentioning in Ducati's favour is that the front of the engine is exposed to all the crap, stones etc, thrown up by the front wheel and you would really need some tough paint to survive that for thousands of miles. So if the flakiness starts right at the front under the starter motor then Ducati might reason that it is just normal wear and tear.
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