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Forum-level Ballots

Beginning with the adoption of the Extended Validation Guidelines in June 2007, the CA/Browser has tracked proposed ballots using a numbering system, and CA/Browser Forum member votes have become publicly available for votes occurring after February 2013. A tally of quorum and voting results is available here:  https://docs.google.com/spreadsheet/ccc?key=0AjuWQ0oWc2scdDV5QWd5OGk1VWFfZW5XbWdDX1JqN2c#gid=4

Open Forum-level Ballots (GitHub Pull Requests)

No pull re-quests in state 'open' and labeled with 'ballot' in the forum repository.

Closed Forum-level Ballots (GitHub Pull Requests)

  • Created at Sep 20, 2023, merged on Jan 13, 2024

    This ballot proposes to amend the Code Signing Certificate Working Group (CSCWG) Charter with the following changes:

    • Bump the Charter version.
    • Add a limited scope for timestamp certificates.
    • Remove the version reference of the bylaws that we follow.
    • During a ballot, count only members that are in a voting class, disregarding associate members and interested parties.
    • Align Quorum definition as half the average, as the Bylaws have it set.
  • Created at Feb 26, 2023, merged on Jul 20, 2023

    The Forum has identified and discussed a number of improvements to be made to the current version of the Bylaws to improve clarity and allow the Forum to function more efficiently. Most of these changes are described in the “Issues with Bylaws to be addressed” document. Some preparatory discussions and reviews can be checked on GitHub. Here is a list of major changes:

    1. Clarified that it is not always required to “READ” the antitrust statement before each meeting and added the option of reading a “note-well”.
    2. Clarified where to send/post Chartered Working Group minutes.
    3. Increased the number of days before automatic failing a ballot from 21 to 90 days.
    4. Allow Chair or Vice-Chair to update links to other sections within a document without a ballot.
    5. Applied grammatical and other language improvements.
    6. Clarified that Subcommittee minutes do not need to also be published on the public web site.
    7. Created a new member category called “Probationary Member”, applicable to both Certificate Issuer and Consumer categories, and separated “Associate Members - Certificate Issuers” from the “Associate Member” category.
    8. Clarified language for Associate Members for consistency with Probationary Member for the ballot proposals and endorsing.
    9. Removed the member category called “Root CA Issuer” and only kept the “CA Issuer” category.
    10. Added a step to check the authority of the signer during membership applications.
    11. Updated the Chartered Working Group template.
    12. Added some language to the Code of Conduct.
    13. Publishing private conversations without express permission is considered a violation of the Code of Conduct.
    14. Updated the elections language as agreed at F2F#58.

Working Group-level Ballots

You can locate the Working Group Ballots in the following links:

Latest releases
Code Signing Requirements
v3.8 - Aug 5, 2024

What’s Changed

Full Changelog: https://github.com/cabforum/code-signing/compare/v3.7...v3.8

S/MIME Requirements
v1.0.6 - Ballot SMC08 - Aug 29, 2024

This ballot sets a date by which issuance of certificates following the Legacy generation profiles must cease. It also includes the following minor updates:

  • Pins the domain validation procedures to v 2.0.5 of the TLS Baseline Requirements while the ballot activity for multi-perspective validation is concluded, and the SMCWG determines its corresponding course of action;
  • Updates the reference for SmtpUTF8Mailbox from RFC 8398 to RFC 9598; and
  • Small text corrections in the Reference section

Network and Certificate System Security Requirements
v2.0 - Ballot NS-003 - Jun 26, 2024

Ballot NS-003: Restructure the NCSSRs in https://github.com/cabforum/netsec/pull/35

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The Certification Authority Browser Forum (CA/Browser Forum) is a voluntary gathering of Certificate Issuers and suppliers of Internet browser software and other applications that use certificates (Certificate Consumers).