Ballot SC-64: Temporary Moratorium on New Certificate Consumer Memberships
Voting Results
Certificate Issuers
19 votes total:
- 7 Issuers voting YES: Actalis, Chunghwa Telecom, iTrusChina, JPRS, SECOM, SSL.com, SwissSign
- 3 Issuers voting NO: Entrust, Fastly, HARICA
- 9 Issuers ABSTAIN: D-TRUST, DigiCert, GlobalSign, GoDaddy, Izenpe, Kamu SM, OISTE, Telia Company, Viking Cloud
Certificate Consumers
2 votes total, with no abstentions:
- 2 Consumers voting YES: Google, Mozilla
- 0 Consumers voting NO
- 0 Consumers ABSTAIN
Bylaws Requirements
- Bylaw 2.3(6) requires:
- In order for a ballot to be adopted by the Forum, two‐thirds (2/3) or more of the votes cast by the Voting Members in the Certificate Issuer category must be in favour of the ballot. This requirement was MET.
- at least fifty percent (50%) plus one (1) of the votes cast by the Voting Members in the Certificate Consumer category must be in favour of the ballot. This requirement was MET.
- At least one (1) Voting Member in each category must vote in favour of a ballot for the ballot to be adopted. This requirement was MET.
- Bylaw 2.3(7) requires:
- A ballot result will be considered valid only when more than half of the number of currently active Voting Members has participated. The number of currently active Voting Members is the average number of Voting Member organizations that have participated in the previous three (3) Forum Meetings and Forum Teleconferences.
- Half of the currently active members at the start of voting was 13, so the quorum was 14 for this ballot. This requirement was MET.
BALLOT CONTENTS
Purpose of the Ballot
During discussions at Face-to-Face Meeting 58, it was noted that the membership criteria for Certificate Consumers in the Charter for the Server Certificate Working Group (SCWG) lacked sufficient detail. Since then, several members of the CA/Browser Forum have worked to develop better criteria for membership of Certificate Consumers in the SCWG, however, discussion is ongoing. A moratorium is necessary to preserve the status quo and ensure impartiality while we re-evaluate and revise our membership criteria so that they are more clear, fair, and aligned with the goals of the Forum.
The following motion has been proposed by Ben Wilson of Mozilla and endorsed by Tobias Josefowitz of Opera and Thomas Zermeno of SSL.com.
Motion Begins
Effective immediately, there is a temporary moratorium established on the acceptance of applications for membership as Certificate Consumer members in the Server Certificate Working Group. This moratorium will expire on December 1, 2023, or prior to such date, upon publication of the Forum’s vote on a revised Charter for the Server Certificate Working Group.
During the moratorium, the Server Certificate Working Group will not accept or consider applications for membership as Certificate Consumers. Applications for other types of membership may be accepted and considered.
Motion Ends
This ballot does not propose a Final Guideline or Final Maintenance Guideline. The procedure for approval of this ballot is as follows:
Discussion (7 days)
Start Time: 2023-05-25 21:25 UTC
End Time: Not before 2023-06-01 22:00 UTC
Vote for approval (7 days)
Start Time: 2023-06-05 18:00 UTC
End Time: 2023-06-12 18:00 UTC