Ballot 50 – 64-Character “O” Field

Ballot overview

• Ballot 50, titled 64-Character O Field, is marked Passed Unanimously.
• The motion was made by Ben Wilson and endorsed by Moudrick Dadashov and Bruce Morton.
• The ballot changes Section 8.1.1 for the organization name field in EV certificates.

Requirement change

• The organization name field, subject:organizationName, remains required.
• The field must contain the Subject’s full legal organization name as listed in official incorporation or registration records, or as otherwise verified by the CA.
• A CA may abbreviate organization prefixes or suffixes, but the abbreviations must not be misleading in the jurisdiction of incorporation or registration.
• An assumed name or DBA name may be included at the beginning of the field if followed by the full legal organization name in parentheses.
• If the combined name or the organization name alone exceeds 64 characters, the CA may abbreviate parts of the name or omit non-material words so the field stays within 64 characters, provided the CA checks the field under section 10.11.1 and a relying party will not be misled into thinking they are dealing with a different organization.
• If this is not possible, the CA must not issue the EV certificate.

Timing

• The motion states that the erratum begins effective immediately.
• The ballot review period comes into effect at 2100 UTC on 23 Aug 2010 and closes at 2100 UTC on 30 Aug 2010.
• The voting period starts immediately after the review period and closes at 2100 UTC on 7 Sep 2010.

Applicability

• The 64-character organization-name handling applies to EV certificates.
• The ballot text does not provide a later compliance date beyond effective immediately.