Read the Daily Penn article. Seems that Furda is stressing the idea of making applicants more certain of the implications of ED, and less likely to regret their choice. Seems to me you could do that within the ED process.
I also wonder: If someone breaks their commitment without good reason, isn’t Penn better off not having someone who would do that in their class? Yes, Penn may end up wasting their time on 20 or 30 (or whatever) ED admits who don’t work out. But there will be plenty of people to take their place in RD.
My guess is that one reason they are doing this now because the moving up of financial aid deadlines means that more applicants will have info about their financial aid possibilities earlier, and will be more likely to take a chance on breaking a commitment with a more certain backup.