As stated above, this has been in place on most of the fleet since October 2012, and has been debated endlessly here:

http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/klm-f...hort-haul.html

The debate is ongoing, so there really is no point in starting a second, parallel discussion.

These are not "upgrades". They don't stay empty - platinums in many cases can only select from these seats, and often have difficulty selecting a regular, free seat. Elite pax who have not selected a seat in these rows will NOT be moved to them.