AT&T to Unlock Off-Contract iPhones

I ended my contract in good standing, I have an iphone 4, locked to AT&T gathering dust. I call customer service they tell me I have to have an existing AT&T number to get the unlock code...
explanation on their policy blah blah my trying to explain what I read in this article gets met with met with a mixture of ignorance and attitude. I don't want to fight with At&T CS anymore.

There is a problem from what I am understanding about this article and what AT&T customer service reps are being told.

Kinda knew it was too good to be true. Any AT&T reps out there that know what they are doing, could you please email me? I need to speak to someone with intelligence, I know there are one or two of you out there. gusbaby@hotmail.com