Ballot 173 – Removal of requirement to cease use of private key due to incorrect certificate info

Ballot overview

• Ballot 173 is titled Removal of requirement to cease use of private key due to incorrect certificate info.
• The motion was proposed by Josh Aas of ISRG / Let’s Encrypt and endorsed by Ben Wilson of Digicert and Chris Bailey of Entrust.
• The ballot changes Baseline Requirements Section 9.6.3.

What changes

• The existing rule required a subscriber to promptly cease using a Certificate and its associated Private Key, and promptly request revocation, if any certificate information was incorrect or inaccurate, or if there was actual or suspected misuse or compromise of the subscriber’s private key.
• The revised rule separates the cases:
  • If there is actual or suspected misuse or compromise of the subscriber’s private key, the subscriber must promptly request revocation of the Certificate and cease using it and its associated Private Key.
  • If any information in the Certificate is or becomes incorrect or inaccurate, the subscriber must promptly request revocation of the Certificate and cease using it.
• The ballot states this change is effective upon the date of passage.

Voting and result

• The review period commenced at 2200 UTC on 14 July 2016 and closed at 2200 UTC on 21 July 2016.
• The voting period started immediately thereafter and closed at 2200 UTC on 28 July 2016.
• The ballot page states that voting on Ballot 173 has now closed.
• Results reported:
  • CAs: 16 YES, 1 NO, 0 abstentions
  • Browsers: 3 YES, 0 NO, 0 abstentions
• The page states that the ballot passes.

Dates

• The page states the effective date is 45 days from July 28, 2016.
• The motion text states the changes are effective upon the date of passage.
• The review period and voting period dates are provided on the ballot page.
• No IPR exclusion notice is mentioned in the supplied evidence.