[cabfpub] Ballot 121 - EVGL Insurance Requirements
Moudrick M. Dadashov
md at ssc.lt
Thu May 1 16:36:24 UTC 2014
SSC votes: "Yes".
Thanks,
M.D.
On 4/24/2014 3:16 AM, Ben Wilson wrote:
>
> *Ballot 121 -- EVGL Insurance Requirements*
>
> The EV Guidelines Working Group is considering updating the EV
> Guidelines in a number of areas. Kirk Hall of Trend Micro hereby
> makes the following motion, and Moudrick Dadashov from Skaitmeninio
> sertifikavimo centras (SSC)and Richard Wang from WoSign have endorsed it.
>
> This ballot is to amend the current EV Guidelines (EVGL) Sec. 8.4
> requirements as stated below. The reasons in favor of the Ballot are
> stated after the proposed amendments.
>
> _Motion begins_:
>
> Amend EV Guideline Section 8.4 to read as follows:
>
> *EV Guideline Section 8.4 - Insurance*
>
> **
>
> Each CA SHALL maintain the following insurance related to their
> *_its_* respective performance and obligations under these Guidelines
> *_in accordance with the the minimum insurance requirements (if any)
> as are applicable to the CA under the law of its jurisdiction of
> incorporation or registration._* :
>
> (A) Commercial General Liability insurance (occurrence form) with
> policy limits of at least two million US dollars in coverage; and
>
> (B) Professional Liability/Errors and Omissions insurance, with policy
> limits of at least five million US dollars in coverage, and including
> coverage for (i) claims for damages arising out of an act, error, or
> omission, unintentional breach of contract, or neglect in issuing or
> maintaining EV Certificates, and (ii) claims for damages arising out
> of infringement of the proprietary rights of any third party
> (excluding copyright, and trademark infringement), and invasion of
> privacy and advertising injury.
>
> Such insurance MUST be with a company rated no less than A- as to
> Policy Holder's Rating in the current edition of Best's Insurance
> Guide (or with an association of companies each of the members of
> which are so rated).
>
> A CA MAY self-insure for liabilities that arise from such party's
> performance and obligations under these Guidelines provided that it
> has at least five hundred million US dollars in liquid assets based on
> audited financial statements in the past twelve months, and a quick
> ratio (ratio of liquid assets to current liabilities) of not less than
> 1.0.
>
> _Motion Ends _
>
> The reasons for this proposed amendment are as follows:
>
> ·The insurance requirements were created basically out of thin air
> during initial drafting of the EVGL, without any particular analysis
> of claims against CAs, usefulness of insurance, availability of
> appropriate insurance, or necessary insurance levels. The main
> purpose of an insurance requirement in the EVGL was to impress the
> public with the responsibility of CAs who issue EV certificates.
> However, as noted below, these reasons aren't really justified by the
> facts.
>
> ·The types and amounts of insurance required under EVGL 8.4 are North
> America-centric, and are not easily available in other world regions
> (or not available at all). Insurance for damages "arising out of
> infringement of the proprietary rights of any third party" are
> generally not available in many professional liability/errors and
> omissions policies. The requirement is arguably unfair to CAs outside
> North America.
>
> ·The types of insurance required under EVGL 8.4 are not designed to
> provide relief or compensation to injured customers or the public who
> rely on EV certs issued by a CA. Both types of insurance are intended
> primarily to protect the issuing CA, not injured claimants, and the
> insurers will try to avoid or defeat all claims from claimants. The
> policies typically include defense costs within the policy limits, so
> an insurance policy might be entirely consumed by defense costs to
> protect the issuing CA, with nothing left to pay claims to claimants.
>
> ·Commercial General Liability insurance doesn't really help customers
> or relying parties who claim injury from a bad cert -- these policies
> are more designed to protect the CA from things like people falling on
> a slippery floor in the CA's offices, etc. Likewise, professional
> liability/E&O coverage will only pay after defending the CA if a
> judgment is likely or rendered, and the insurer may try to avoid
> coverage if the issuing CA has done some bad things. For example,
> Diginotar's insurer has denied all coverage because Diginotar hid its
> breach and failed to report the problem for several weeks, compounding
> the damages and violating its obligations to the insurers -- so the
> insurance was worthless. These policies also do not cover contract
> claims from customers (e.g., a claim of breach of contract by the CA
> such as failure to issue a proper cert).
>
> ·Some have suggested that even if the current insurance requirements
> don't actually protect the public or customers, they are nevertheless
> useful as a "show of seriousness" by a CA. If that is a worthwhile
> objective, we may as well require other irrelevant things instead like
> proof of auto insurance or a minimum office space size -- none of
> these qualifications are really relevant to whether a CA operates
> competently and in compliance with requirements. Instead, we rely
> mostly on (1) annual performance audits, and (2) browser root programs
> (and consequences of failure) to confirm competence and compliance.
>
> ·VeriSign's previous general counsel for ten years has said VeriSign
> never faced a claim for damages from any certs during that time. In
> most cases, bad certs are simply revoked and possibly reissued.
>
> ·Even though there have been virtually no claims against issuing CAs,
> buying the minimum insurance can be expensive for smaller CAs. There
> is typically a minimum premium of $25,000 or more per year with a
> significant deductible, even though the CA will likely never have a
> covered claim. That's a waste of money.
>
> ·In the Diginotar case, apparently claims were made against the
> company's insurers (perhaps from investors for loss of value of the
> company when it was shut down). In any case, Diginotar's insurer
> denied all coverage for the claims based on Diginotar's bad acts and
> breach of its obligations to the insurer. There would be no possibly
> insurance coverage for customers or relying parties, so the insurance
> was of no value.
>
> ·Some countries have their own minimum insurance requirements for
> companies incorporated or registered in their jurisdiction, while many
> do not. The CA/Browser Forum should defer to these decisions by the
> governing jurisdictions and require compliance with local standards --
> or just delete Section 8.4 entirely, as every CA must already comply
> with applicable laws.
>
> ·Finally, under current EVGL Sec. 8.4, large companies like Trend
> Micro get to opt out of the insurance requirements because they meet
> the stated financial requirements. This is arguably an unfair
> advantage for large companies over small ones.
>
> The review period for this ballot shall commence at 2200 UTC on
> Wednesday, 23 April 2014, and will close at 2200 UTC on Wednesday, 30
> April 2014. Unless the motion is withdrawn during the review period,
> the voting period will start immediately thereafter and will close at
> 2200 UTC on Wednesday, 7 May 2014. Votes must be cast by posting an
> on-list reply to this thread.
>
> A vote in favor of the motion must indicate a clear 'yes' in the
> response. A vote against must indicate a clear 'no' in the response. A
> vote to abstain must indicate a clear 'abstain' in the response.
> Unclear responses will not be counted. The latest vote received from
> any representative of a voting member before the close of the voting
> period will be counted. Voting members are listed here:
> https://cabforum.org/members/
>
> In order for the motion to be adopted, two thirds or more of the votes
> cast by members in the CA category and greater than 50% of the votes
> cast by members in the browser category must be in favor. Also, at
> least six members must participate in the ballot, either by voting in
> favor, voting against, or abstaining.
>
>
>
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