Theoretically, yes. However, the advantage/necessity of COP ignitions is that the ECM can fire any plug it wants to, whenever it wants to, giving much more precise control of timing for a greater range of driving conditions (hence better performance, use of different grades of gas, etc.). Also, you don't have to run high tension lines to each plug.
I haven't heard anything lately, but problems were rampant with earlier ECM/COP designs. Some VWs, in particular, had a lot of problems with the COPs. The Lincoln LS was notorious for COP problems. My parents have one, and were about ready to junk the car--they otherwise loved it--until I found a website where a pro mechanic had diagnosed the problem: failing COPs could cause a voltage spike on the primary line which caused the ECM to shut down. My dad--who's 82 but still likes to romp on it when he has an excuse--got shook up when his engine quit while trying to merge on a fast and busy freeway (I5 in California). Changing the occasional bad COP would help in the short term, but the problem wasn't solved until we replaced all 8 COPs with a newer, presumably better, design sourced from NAPA. Note the COP is a small, plastic-encased design that is doing basically the same job as an older, metal-encased and oil-filled coil (I think COPs use a little different circuitry, with some aspects of a capacitive discharge design, but I'm not sure about it).