Per CO's Rev Man, one of the driving forces for the hated 72hr rules was the lost revenue from false "john doe" bookings in J, made by folks looking to insure upgrades would clear at the gate. They tried a few others ideas first, such as a group of people who called out and reconfirmed all BF res, but I guess this still wasn't enough. Given that CO has only a J and no P cabin, the BF seats ended up with a wall around them.

Regarding employees, there was a much smaller problem there too, but a much simpler solution, they would permit them to fly a portion of their trip, and then bust them enroute, fire them, and leave them find there own way home. So no, the 72hr rules has nothing to do with the non rev, and everything to do with greed. No you can read that as CO's or the OP members, but I think it is both.