I don't understand this. Perhaps I'm dimmer than most but wouldn't it have made more sense not to distribute the list but to have airlines query the database online on an item-by-item as-needed basis?

Alright, friendo, stop right there. You don't hamd the answer to the people out to get away scot-free with doing skeevy things. They should by all rights know the answer, but it is only through gaff tips like these that the public gets a view into what the machine is up to.

I can't argue with that.

That the bureaucracy fucks up from time to time is useful in such circumstances. :-)