Flyers,
Whether you agree with it or not, whether you have past success or not, whether you think it should be this or that or not, is at the end, irrelevant.
The fact is this was a minor issue that seems to be universally ignored, until recently, when the threat of Terror has changed the entire way of air-travel. You can lament, you can be angry, you can be disgusted, but the reality is rules and policies will be enforce, even *over-enforce*.
Just like in the old days agents can care less if your luggage is overweight by a little, now they are adamant to pay a fee or take things out. Names have to be exact match has been around for more than a few decades, now it seems like it's going to be universally enforced as time go on.
Be safe, use exact names, save the grief later.