Yes, it's true. It's called "SecureFlight" and is a TSA program enhancement. Part of it is already in force. But the phase that begins November 1, 2010 requires you to have certain personal information coded into your PNR by 72 hours before departure, so that your profile can be run against various government databases well in advance of the day of departure. This information includes:
- Full Name (First, Middle, Last)
- Date of Birth
- Gender
- Redress # if applicable

If you don't get government clearance, then the airline will not be able to issue you a boarding pass either online or at the airport. The stated goal is to reduce the number of false matches to the watch list by collecting more data....so if John A. Smith is on the list, the rest of the John W. Smiths, John M. Smiths, etc. will not be prevented from traveling erroneously.



Here's TSA's description of the program:
http://www.tsa.gov/what_we_do/layers/secureflight/


Here's a link to AA's description of how it is implementing the program:
http://www.aa.com/viewPromotionDetai...&_locale=en_US



-----

Note that this information is completely separate from the DHS/ICE-mandated information that must be in your record by 1 hour before departure of a flight that departs to a location outside US territories, or arrives in the USA from foreign soil, such as passport number, country of issue, date of issue, date of expiry, etc.