Yes, this is a new behavior.

But the new option [-y] is in fact documented in the NW 7.6.2 manpages.

+----------------------------------------------------------------------
|This was sent by carsten_reinfeld AT avus-cr DOT de via Backup Central.
|Forward SPAM to abuse AT backupcentral DOT com.
+----------------------------------------------------------------------

To sign off this list, send email to listserv AT listserv.temple DOT edu and 
type "signoff networker" in the body of the email. Please write to 
networker-request AT listserv.temple DOT edu if you have any problems with this 
list. You can access the archives at 
http://listserv.temple.edu/archives/networker.html or
via RSS at http://listserv.temple.edu/cgi-bin/wa?RSS&L=NETWORKER