I"ve had mine about a year and I've been posting here and on Autopia for abourt a year and I've never heard of anyone burning the paint with a PC. In addition I don't think the PC can burn paint unless you maybe reallly try hard to mess up with it. It's virtuallly fool proof and yet does a great job of polishing.
Perhaps if using a VERY strong compound with a PC and a yellow LC pad or wool pad set on 6 you could ruin the paint permanently. Strongest compound I have is 3m Super Duty Heavy Cut, I almost never use it even by hand (it feels gritty) and I would only resort to using it with a PC if the damage to the paint was so severe it would probably wind up going to a body shop any way.
With all my experiences on the PC, I have yet burned paint ("knock on wood" ).
So the answer to your question is, no it will not burn paint unless you deliberately wanted to. With enough pressure and the right aggressive product (compound), I think you will.
...take Meguiars Diamond Cut and a wool pad, place it on the edge of a hood and turn that PC up to 6 and hold it there in the same spot for one minute.
Other than a concentrated attempt like that, I really do not believe a PC will burn your paint if it used with reasonable care. I had my 5 year old son polishing my black 500 SEL with #9 and a white polishing pad, and I did not have a concern in the world about paint damage.
I just purcahsed my first PC and haven't had a chance to use it yet. Just how carefull should I be using the PC on the portion of my hood I outlined below in the pic. I plan on using 1Z PP with a white pad at about speed 5. Is this pretty safe or should I be scared todead LOL