Ballot 45 – Verification of Authority

Ballot 45 – Verification of Authority (Passed Unanimously)

Motion

Wayne Thayer made the following motion and Bruce Morton and Ben Wilson endorsed it.

Current Text of Section 10.7.3

10.7.3 Acceptable Methods of Verification – Authority

Acceptable methods of verification of the Signing Authority of the Contract Signer, and the EV Authority of the Certificate Approver, as applicable, include:

(1) Legal Opinion: The Signing Authority of the Contract Signer, and/or the EV Authority of the Certificate Approver, MAY be verified by reliance on a Verified Legal Opinion (as described in Section 10.10.1);

(2) Accountant Letter: The Signing Authority of the Contract Signer, and/or the EV Authority of the Certificate Approver, MAY be verified by reliance on a Verified Accountant Letter (as described in Section 10.10.2);

(3) Corporate Resolution: The Signing Authority of the Contract Signer, and/or the EV Authority of the Certificate Approver, MAY be verified by reliance on a properly authenticated corporate resolution that confirms that the person has been granted such Signing Authority, provided that such resolution is (i) certified by the appropriate corporate officer (e.g., secretary), and (ii) the CA can reliably verify that the certification was validly signed by such person, and that such person does have the requisite authority to provide such certification;

(4) Independent Confirmation from Applicant: The Signing Authority of the Contract Signer, and/or the EV Authority of the Certificate Approver, MAY be verified by obtaining an Independent Confirmation from the Applicant (as described in Section 10.10.4);

(5) Contract between CA and Applicant: The EV Authority of the Certificate Approver MAY be verified by reliance on a contract between the CA and the Applicant that designates the Certificate Approver with such EV Authority, provided that the contract is signed by the Contract Signer and provided that the agency and Signing Authority of the Contract Signer have been verified;

(6) Prior Equivalent Authority: The signing authority of the Contract Signer, and/or the EV authority of the Certificate Approver, MAY be verified by relying on a demonstration of Prior Equivalent Authority.

(A) Prior Equivalent Authority of a Contract Signer MAY be relied upon for confirmation or verification of the signing authority of the Contract Signer when the Contract Signer has executed a binding contract between the CA and the Applicant with a legally valid and enforceable seal or handwritten signature and only when the contract was executed more than 90 days prior to the EV Certificate application. The CA MUST record sufficient details of the previous agreement to correctly identify it and associate it with the EV application. Such details MAY include any of the following:

(i) Agreement title,

(ii) Date of Contract Signer’s signature,

(iii) Contract reference number, and

(iv) Filing location;

(B) Prior Equivalent Authority of a Certificate Approver MAY be relied upon for confirmation or verification of the EV Authority of the Certificate Approver when the Certificate Approver has performed one or more of the following:

(i) Under contract to the CA, has served (or is serving) as an Enterprise RA for the Applicant, or

(ii) Has participated in the approval of one or more certificate requests, for certificates issued by the CA and which are currently and verifiably in use by the Applicant. In this case the CA MUST have contacted the Certificate Approver by phone at a previously validated phone number or have accepted a signed and notarized letter approving the certificate request.

The current mechanisms work well for larger Applicants where the Contract Signer and Certificate Approve are not company officers or executives. However, in the case of a small Applicant, the Signer and/or Approver are often Senior executives listed in a QIIS or QGIS. These Applicants are often forced to get a legal opinion or to have a lower ranking executive confirm that the owner of the business has the authority to sing the contract and approve the certificate.

Motion begins

Effective immediately

Erratum begins

Add the following option to section 10.7.3:

(7) QIIS or QGIS: The Signing Authority of the Contract Signer, and/or the EV Authority of the Certificate Approver, MAY be verified by a QIIS or QGIS that identifies the Contract Signer and/or the Certificate Approver as a corporate officer, sole proprietor, or other senior official of the Applicant.

Erratum ends

Motion ends

The ballot review period comes into effect at 2100 UTC on 9 Apr ’10 and will close at 2100 UTC on 16 Apr ’10. Unless the motion is withdrawn during the review period, the voting period will start immediately thereafter and will close at 2100 UTC on 23 Apr ’10.

Votes must be cast by ‘reply all’ to this email.

A vote in favour 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.