I think they are making it easier to be a JW and this is a serious attempt at keeping the younger generations from leaving. The only ones angered by this are the boomer generation and older who lived their entire lives under these rules. They are not the future and the GB finally realised this.
Only thing I am certain of is why TMIII was removed. Mr Tight Pants himself would have never approved this and likely was the huge hold-out in all these GB votes. Probably was actively campaigning behind the scenes and was causing division in the GB ranks.
Looks like the modernisers have taken the victory. Unclear as to how far they will take this. 1914 is a huge inconvenience right now and I think they might wait until more of the older ones die off before repealing it.