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Apple already gives the carriers the ability to give iPhone's a permanent unlock. At&t could if they wanted to. They just don't want to offer it.

The speculation is that services like this must have insiders in carriers that can do unlocks to request them. The reason being, only carriers are able to add the iPhone's IMEI to Apple's unlock whitelist.
 
As far as we know, AT&T still has the exclusive GSM rights in the US. That's why apple doesn't sell unlocked phones in their stores.
Apple controls the unlock db. Carriers send in lists that tell apple to change the status of the phones to unlocked.
The problem with this unlock is that we don't know what happens when AT&T finds out. They may very well ask apple to do a mass reversal of all these unlocks and apple may agree to it. There's already a method to back it up, in the event a reversal happens. However, there's so many idiots who aren't going to do the research. Inevitably, they'll be whining if they lose their unlock.

If you or anyone else goes through with it, caveat emptor.
 
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