It sounds like they have just re-discovered Distributed Transactions with a Distributed Transaction Coordinator.

But DTs have a huge problem: What happens if the owner of the lock netsplits?

Either the DTC waits (potentially forever?) for the owner of the lock to get back in touch and release the lock, or a timeout is applied and now the owner of the lock (who may be unaware of the netsplit) will be out of sync with the system.