Wouldn't it work better then? If the oil has been stalled and scrubbed from the air, and has coalesced on/in the filter media (the bronze plus the added scouring pad), the droplets would already be too big to remain "in flight" to get to the "unprotected" outlet port. Going the other way, the oil is already stuck to the filter media and is being pulled through via engine vacuum at all times. Eventually, it'll get through and make its way up the hose to the intake manifold.
The oil would have to pretty much be solidified in the hose to be a restriction. Obviously, it's very far from being a solid. Also, a restriction stalls air flow and this weakens the vacuum on a fluid substance. If there's enough oil going through the PCV system (through that tiny hole in the PCV "valve", for one), to fill the 5/16" hose, then your engine was already moving that much oil and it needs more help than a catch can would ever provide. Does an oil-soaked brass filter reduce air flow? Of course. But it's not enough to cause excess pressure inside the engine or affect engine vacuum in any amount the PCM sees and reacts to.
