note that using KEY instead of the defined key_alias has been removed

NEWS.txt

@@ -39,6 +39,11 @@ Upgrading
     - Hadoop input and output details are now separated.  If you were
       previously using methods such as getRpcPort you now need to use
       getInputRpcPort or getOutputRpcPort depending on the circumstance.
+    - CQL changes:
+      + Prior to 1.1, you could use KEY as the primary key name in some
+        select statements, even if the PK was actually given a different
+        name.  In 1.1+ you must use the defined PK name.
+        
 
 Features
 --------

src/java/org/apache/cassandra/cql/WhereClause.java

@@ -160,7 +160,7 @@ public class WhereClause
         for (Relation relation : clauseRelations)
         {
             String name = relation.getEntity().getText().toUpperCase();
-            if (name.equals(realKeyAlias) || name.equals("KEY"))
+            if (name.equals(realKeyAlias))
             {
                 if (keyAlias == null) // setting found key as an alias
                     keyAlias = name;
@@ -199,6 +199,4 @@ public class WhereClause
                              multiKey,
                              keyAlias);
     }
-    
-
 }