Maybe I'm alone in this, but I think the only people who should be able to reserve an exit row seat are Elite Access (P/G/S, ST, ST+, Yfare) - no one else should be able to sit there unless assigned by the gate agent prior to departure, and the middle seats in those rows should be blocked in the same way they will be in the Elite seating area. P/G/ST+ can reserve at anytime (ST+ by phone) and S/ST/Y fare can reserve at OLCI time.

This would mean removing exit row seating selection from OLCI/E-Service for non-EA customers.