Organisation Assurance - sub-policy for Australian organisations



Author: Robert Cruikshank
Creation date: WIP 2008-02-23 V0.2
Status: WIP DRAFT 2008-03-012
Date next status: changes expected in April 2008.

0. Preliminaries

This sub-policy describes how Organisation Assurers ("OAs") conduct assurances on Australian organisations. It fits within the overall web-of-trust or assurance process and the Organisation Assurance Policy (OAP) of CAcert.


1. Purpose

This is a subsidiary policy to the OAP.
  1. This sub-policy is applicable for the assurance of Australian organisations only.
  2. This sub-policy is an implementation of the OAP.
  3. Where the Assurance Officer (AO) is referred to below, this includes their local delegate.

2. Organisation Assurers

2.1 Requirements for the Organisation Assurer

In addition to the requirements defined in the OAP, an OA must meet the following requirements for assuring Australian organisations:
  1. Knowledge of common legal forms of organisations in Australia.
  2. Must pass an additional test on local knowledge, even if he/she is already an OA.
  3. Should help the AO to define local requirements.

3. Process

3.1 Organisations

Acceptable organisations under this sub-policy must be:
  1. Organisations created under the rules of the Australian jurisdiction.
  2. Organisations must not be revoked by a competent authority with direct oversight over the organisation.

3.2 Documents

The organisation has to provide documentary and/or physical evidence for two purposes. The first is to prove that the organisation exists as a registered entity and the second is to prove that the applicant has appropriate authority over the domain name. This policy assumes that there is a link between the entity name and the domain name evident in a 'whois' search. This link should established an association between the registered entity and the applicant. (i.e. the organisation name, the domain name/s and the applicant's name can all be linked together through these mechanisms):
  1. The primary mechanism to prove existence of the organisation is to provide the ABN or other government registration number of the business that can be used to search the appropriate online register. This can take the form of a photocopy of the certificate issued by the business registrar accompanied by a letter on business letterhead. If an online search cannot be performed for the specific registrar your business is registered with, then an official extract will be required.
  2. The primary mechanism to prove authority over the domain name/s in question is for the applicant to provide an official extract from the Australian business registrar containing the name and signature of the applicant as a current company officer, either via an online interface or via physical means (organisation is asked to carry the costs).
    1. An example of this is:
      The applicant performs an ASIC or D&B document search for a lodged document that contains the name and signature of the applicant and proves the rights of the applicant over the company name.
      1. Such a document could be a "Company Check" or "Business Check" (see http://www.dnb.com.au/express/about/about_dnbexpress_reports.asp).
      2. This document should be made available to the OA by hyperlink to the ASIC or D&B web site ensuring its authenticity or be an official extract (organisation is asked to carry the costs).
    2. Where not available, an official document will be required from the company, subject to such checks as defined by the AO.
    3. An acceptable alternative may be to place a randomly generated canonical name or text entry in the DNS zone file of the domain name in question. The randomly generated text is to be created by the OA and given to the the applicant with the COAP form. This process is to be approved by the AO for each organisation.
  3. If copies of official extracts from the official register are provided, they must be officially certified.
  4. The AO maintains a list of which specific documents and tests can be acceptable for certain types of organisations.
  5. The OA can ask for additional documents if needed to validate required information for the assurance process.

3.3 COAP

In addition to the checks defined in the policy, the COAP form for Australian organisations requires:
  1. Signatures from organisation officials meeting the following requirements
    1. as legally specified for the type of organisation
    2. as specified in the official documents (i.e. the excerpt from the register)
    3. as delegated within the organisation (proof of delegation needed)
    4. The organisation must agree to the terms of the CAcert Community Agreement by signing the COAP and will therefore be subject to Arbitration.

3.4 Acceptable Search Process

An Australian Organisational Assurance must be preceded with the following searches, documents and agreements:
  1. To prove the organisation in question exists an ASIC search is to be performed using the given organisation number. This can be performed at this site http://www.search.asic.gov.au/gns001.html. A printout of this search should be made and retained.
  2. This search can be extended with a D&B search which should also give the contact phone number for this company. This search can be performed at this site http://www.dnb.com.au/express/default.asp. A copy of this search should be printed and retained. The phone number can be compared with any phone numbers provided by the applicant if any.
  3. To help establish a link between the domain name and the company name a whois search is to be conducted and the registered business name compared to the ASIC search result.
  4. The organisation name and number should be consistent throughout:
    1. in the search documents both ASIC and whois.
    2. on the COAP form.
    3. and in the CAcert database.