Ballot 180 – Readopting the BRs, EVGL, EV Code Signing, and NCSSR Guidelines with Amendments

Ballot overview

• Ballot 180 readopts the BRs, EVGL, EV Code Signing, and NCSSR Guidelines with amendments.
• The ballot states that it has passed.
• It required a 2/3 affirmative vote by CAs and a majority affirmative vote by browsers, with quorum of 10 votes.

What changed

• BR 3.2.2.4 was amended to require the CA to confirm, as of certificate issuance, that each FQDN in the certificate has been validated by the CA or a Delegated Third Party using any method of confirmation, with documented evidence that the method establishes the Applicant as the Domain Name Registrant or as controlling the FQDN.
• The BR text also says completed confirmations of Applicant authority may be valid for multiple certificates over time, and that the confirmation must have been initiated within the relevant time period before issuance.
• EVGL 11.7 was amended to require, for each FQDN in a certificate other than .onion names, confirmation that the Applicant is the Domain Name Registrant or controls the FQDN using the BR 3.2.2.4 procedure.
• For .onion domain names, the CA must confirm Applicant control in accordance with Appendix F.
• EVGL also adds requirements for mixed character set domain names, including visual comparison against known high risk domains, flagging as High Risk if similarity is found, and performing additional authentication and verification to be certain beyond reasonable doubt that the Applicant and target are the same organization.

Ballot process and timing

• Discussion period: 7 days from 2016-10-25 to 2016-11-01.
• Review period: 60 days from 2016-11-01 to 2016-12-31.
• Vote for approval: 7 days from 2016-12-31 to 2017-01-07.
• The ballot text says that if Exclusion Notice(s) were filed, a PAG would be created and no further action would occur until PAG recommendations were received.
• The ballot text also says the proposer and endorsers could withdraw the ballot at any time prior to completion of the final vote for approval, in which case it would not proceed further.

Outcome

• CAs: 18 yes, 0 no, 3 abstain, plus one yes vote on the Management list that was not counted.
• Browsers: 5 yes, 0 no, 0 abstain.
• The page states that Ballot 180 passes and that quorum was achieved.