Bob Corrigan sent around an email pointing at a paper in PLOS which describes new classification adopted by Catalogue of Life. After looking through the paper my understanding is that it is a step forward and at the same time business as usual for CoL.

Catalogue of Life needs a solid managerial classification for their data and according to article the goal is achieved:

Our goal, therefore, is to provide a hierarchical classification for the CoL and its contributors that (a) is ranked to encompass ordinal-level taxa to facilitate a seamless import of contributing databases; (b) serves the needs of the diverse public-domain user community, most of whom are familiar with the Linnaean conceptual system of ordering taxon relationships; and (c) is likely to be more or less stable for the next five years. Such a modern comprehensive hierarchy did not previously exist at this level of specificity.

Classifications are a dirty business so as usual –

These actual complexities of phylogenetic history emphasize that classification is a practical human enterprise where compromises must be made

Altogether looks like CoL gets a new hierarchical face.