IPhone :: AT&T Early Termination Fee When Moving Abroad

I just spent an hour speaking with AT&T "Customer Service" and was appalled that they will neither waive early termination fees ("ETFs") nor unlock iPhones for customers moving to foreign countries. Although they have never been willing to unlock iPhones, they used to waive ETFs until a discreet policy change around January 2010. If you make the company whole for their iPhone subsidy by paying an ETF, how is it fair to leave you with a locked device that is useless outside AT&T's network?

Does anybody have tips for getting around this? They will not even let you switch to a prepaid plan or suspend your account for more than 6 months if you want to keep your phone number. The only option is to transfer your contract liability to someone else who is willing to accept it, which is an unlikely and generally useless option.