[cabfpub] Clarification of the "CA" term in the BRs

Dimitris Zacharopoulos jimmy at it.auth.gr
Wed Oct 19 12:20:55 UTC 2016


After working this topic for quite some time in the Policy Review WG, we 
consider it ready to be discussed on the public list and we encourage 
members to provide feedback and comments. Here is some information about 
the attached document:

 1. It is based on the BRs version 1.3.7. We didn't always update to the
    latest version because these changes are quite basic and could be
    implemented on any latest version of the BRs.
 2. At first (almost 6 months back), it was decided that minimal changes
    should take place which would make a revision ballot more easily
    adopted by the forum. Now, with the new process that requires longer
    time for review/adoption than before (for IPR issues), we decided
    that we should also provide clarity on the "signing" operations. So,
    you will see a more technically accurate language that replaces the
    concept of a Certificate being "signed by a CA Certificate". The
    language now includes Keys associated with specific Certification
    Authority Certificates.
 3. This red-lined document does not attempt to solve all problematic
    language in the BRs but only the usage of the term "CA" and Keys
    associated with CA Certificates. Other clarifications for other
    terms will be addressed in the future.
 4. We believe that this version, to the best of our knowledge, uses the
    term "CA", "Root CA", "Root Certificate" and "Subordinate CA
    Certificate" consistently. If you spot an ambiguity we missed,
    please let us know.

We don't need to wait for the re-adoption process of the BRs and EV 
guidelines in order to discuss this amendment. We hope to complete this 
discussion process, prepare a proper ballot and once the re-adoption is 
complete, we can officially submit it for review.

You may find for more information and comments on the Policy Review WG 
mailing archive <https://cabforum.org/pipermail/policyreview/>. Here 
<https://cabforum.org/pipermail/policyreview/2016-October/000341html>is 
the latest message on this topic. You are also welcome to comment during 
slot #6 (Working Group reports) at the F2F.


Best regards,
Dimitris Zacharopoulos.
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