What AT&T does for android phones is irrelevant to the iPhone. Each manufacturer will have a different system. Most just give AT&T a database of unlock codes. So all they have to do is input the IMEI and then the database spits out the unlock code, which can then be relayed to the customer. Sometimes instead of a database it'll be a program with an algorithm to generate an unlock code from the IMEI. With the iPhone, Apple retains a lot more control.
I never said that an unlocked phone from another country will automatically get locked. What I did say is that if you get an iPhone exchanged (warranty repair or whatever) in another country, it will still be locked to the home carrier (if the original was also locked). When an iPhone is exchanged at the genius bar, the activation status of the old device gets transferred to the new one.
If I were to call Apple and ask for an unlock, they would most likely say no. That doesn't mean they can't. It just means that it's policy for them not to unlock iPhones without an official request from the carrier.
Legality has absolutely no bearing on whether or not something is possible. It's illegal to drive above the speed limit, to pirate songs/movies, to do drugs, to drink underage, etc... that all still happens. Similarly, Apple (or more realistically, a disgruntled employee at Apple with access to the unlock database) can easily unlock any iPhone out there.
So again, to state is plainly as possible, this is how it works:
1) Customer requests unlock from carrier
2) If eligible, carrier submits an unlock request to Apple
3) Apple references the ECID from the IMEI and adds that identifier to an unlock whitelist
4) If a new activation ticket is requested (by restoring or as of iOS 5 inserting a new SIM card), then the activation server will send a new ticket that allows any MNC/MCC to be used (or non-US MCCs as in the case of the Verizon iPhone 4S and Sprint iPhones)
Let's say you take your phone into the genius bar and need it exchanged. The phones they stock there aren't carrier specific. They just have GSM and CDMA versions. When the exchange is finalized, Apple's server transfer the activation status of the old phone to the new one (so if it's white-listed, the new one is white-listed. If it's AT&T, the new one becomes AT&T. If it's an O2-locked phone, then the new one becomes an O2-locked phone as well despite such phone).
I really don't know how to make it more clear than that. If you come back and just spout off your nonsense, then I'm just going to assume you're trolling, since no one can truly be that dense.
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