[cabfpub] Ballot 149: Revisions to Forum Membership Bylaw 2.1

Wed Apr 29 00:06:55 UTC 2015

This is the ballot for revision on Forum Membership Bylaw 2.1 we first discussed at the Cupertino face to face meeting, now numbered Ballot 149.  I incorporated comments and suggestions made at our meeting into this revised ballot, and have listed the reasons for the ballot at the end.  I also posted Ballot 149 to the wiki.
The discussion period starts tomorrow, and ends on Wed. May 6, when voting starts.  Voting ends on Wed. May 13.  We can also discuss on our teleconference call this Thursday.
*****
Kirk Hall of Trend Micro made the following motion and Jody Cloutier of Microsoft, Wayne Thayer of GoDaddy, and Dean Coclin of Symantec endorsed it:

Ballot 149:  Revisions to Forum Membership Bylaw 2.1

2.1  Qualifying for Forum Membership

(a) CA/Browser Forum members shall meet at least one of the following criteria.

(1) Issuing CA: The member organization operates a certification authority that has a current and successful WebTrust for CAs audit (i) Trust Service Principles and Criteria for Certification Authorities and (ii) WebTrust Principles and Criteria for Certification Authorities - SSL Baseline with Network Security audit reports, or an ETSI 102042 or ETSI 101456 audit report, prepared by a properly-qualified auditor, and that actively issues certificates to Web servers that are openly accessible from the Internet using any one of the mainstream browsers.  Applicants that are not actively issuing certificates but otherwise meet membership criteria may be granted Associate Member status under Bylaw Sec. 3.1 for a period of time to be designated by the Forum.

(2) Root CA: The member organization operates a certification authority that has a current and successful WebTrust for CAs audit (i) Trust Service Principles and Criteria for Certification Authorities and WebTrust Principles and (ii) Criteria for Certification Authorities - SSL Baseline with Network Security audit reports, or an ETSI 102042 or ETSI 101456 audit report, prepared by a properly-qualified auditor, and that actively issues certificates to subordinate CAs that, in turn, actively issue certificates to Web servers that are openly accessible from the Internet using any one of the mainstream browsers.  Applicants that are not actively issuing certificates but otherwise meet membership criteria may be granted Associate Member status under Bylaw Sec. 3.1 for a period of time to be designated by the Forum.

(3) Browser: The member organization produces a software product intended for use by the general public for browsing the Web securely.

(b) Applicants should supply the following information:

(1) Confirmation that the applicant satisfies at least one of the membership criteria (and if it satisfies more than one, indication of the single category under which the applicant wishes to apply).

(2) URL of the current qualifying performance audit report.

(3) The organization name, as you wish it to appear on the Forum Web site and in official Forum documents.

(4) URL of the applicant's main Web site.

(5) Names and email addresses of employees who will participate in the Forum mail list.

(6) Emergency contact information for security issues related to certificate trust.

(7) Links or references to issued certificates that demonstrate compliance with all applicable certificate, CRL, and OCSP requirements.

(c) An Applicant shall become a Member once the Forum has determined by vote consensus among the Members during a teleconference or meeting that the Applicant meets all of the requirements of subsection (a) or, upon the request of any Member, by a Ballot among the Members. A vote of Acceptance by consensus shall be determined or a Ballot of the Members shall be held as soon as the Applicant indicates that it has presented all information required under subsection (b) and has responded to all follow-up questions from the Forum and the Member has complied with the requirements of Section 5.5.

Explanation of Bylaw 2.1 amendments in this ballot

The amendments do the following:

1.  Update the old name of WebTrust for CAs to the new name.

2.  Add the requirement of a BR WebTrust audit or ETSI equivalent.  No CA can issue SSL certs today without one, and the BRs are the most important product of the Forum to date.  It is unlikely any CA would want to join the Forum if it can't or won't follow the BRs and get a BR WebTrust audit or ETSI equivalent.

3.  We added a new Associate Member status as Bylaw 3.1 in Ballot 116 in March 2014, and we would use Associate Member status for new members who were not yet issuing certificate.  Here is the current text of Bylaw 3.1:

3.1 Associate Members The Forum may enter into associate member relationships with other organizations when the CA/Browser Forum determines that maintaining such a relationship will be of benefit to the work of the Forum. In the past, entities qualifying as Associate Members have included the AICPA/CICA WebTrust Task Force, the European Telecommunications Standards Institute, Paypal, the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers, tScheme, the U.S. Federal PKI, and CAs applying for membership but awaiting full qualification under Section 2.1.  Participation as an Associate Member is by invitation only. In order to become an Associate Member, an organization must sign a mutual letter of intent, understanding, or other agreement and the Forum's IPR Agreement, unless this latter requirement is waived in writing by the Forum based on overriding policies of the Associate Member's own organization IPR rules. Associate Members may attend face-to-face meetings, communicate with Forum Members on member lists, and access Forum wiki content. Associate Members are not entitled to vote except on special straw polls of the Forum (e.g. when selecting meeting dates, locations, etc.)

4.  I added the following as an additional item of information that new CAs would have to submit to apply for membership:  "Links or references to issued certificates that demonstrate compliance with all applicable certificate, CRL, and OCSP requirements."  This could either be active secured websites, or test sites.  We have asked for this information in the past.

5.  Finally, I clarified that new members could be accepted by consensus during a teleconference of meeting of the Members, but that any Member could request a Ballot on acceptance (so if a Member objected, the Member could take the matter to a vote).  This is roughly what we have been doing.

-- Motion Ends --

The review period for this ballot shall commence at 2100 UTC on Wednesday, 29 April 2015, and will close at 2100 UTC on Wednesday, 6 May 2015. Unless the motion is withdrawn during the review period, the voting period will start immediately thereafter and will close at 2100 UTC on Wednesday, 13 May 2015. 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 seven members must participate in the ballot, either by voting in favor, voting against, or abstaining.

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