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Thawte
Required Documentation
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Please note: only send us
the documentation
once steps 1, 2 & 3 have been completed
and you have been allocated your request code! |
Step 1: Get
Your Organization Name Documentation Together
Proof of the Right to a Name
One of the more important
attributes on your certificate is the organization name. Thawte will not
issue a certificate unless it is proven that you have the right to use a
given name. This is a cautionary measure to prevent impostors from receiving
certificates and then pretending to be firms they are not. In other
words, to receive an organizational certificate you need to be some sort
of recognized business or non-profit entity in your area, and have the documentation
to prove it.
What constitutes proof of organization name?
Different types of organization
validate their right to use a name in different ways. Thawte will accept
different kinds of documentation from each type of organization as proof
of its right to use that organizational name. By and large the documentation
needs to be on a letterhead, and needs to be official, and needs to be independently
verifiable. For example, we need to be able to call the company registrar
in your country to check that your are in fact registered under that name.
Most
organizations fall into one of the following categories:
- Companies,
corporations, partnerships or proprietorships
We will need a copy of your company registration documents. We
will also accept a copy of your articles of incorporation or partnership
declaration if it is stamped by the relevant authority.
- DBA's
and Individuals
If you are a DBA ("Doing Business As") then we will
need a copy of your DBA registration papers for local levy's and taxes.
Any official correspondence indicating your right to use the name given
on your request will generally be sufficient.
- Government
Departments
We require an original signed letter from the Head of that department
on the appropriate letterhead, along with contact information for his
or her office and immediate superiors.
- NGO's:
Non-Government Organizations
We require an original signed letter from the Chief Executive,
Chairman or Managing Director of the NGO, on the appropriate letterhead.
- Universities
and University Departments
We will require an original signed letter from the Dean or Vice-Chancellor
responsible for that department. Note that this must be on the appropriate
letterhead, accompanied by contact information for the University concerned.
- Special
Interest Groups
Special-interest groups are popping up all over the Internet:
The Apache Group, Debian, Linux Groups and others. We will issue such
groups with certificates but request that you contact us to discuss
verification and authentication.
What if I am different?
Sure.. everybody likes
to be different ;-). If you believe you have a right to use an organizational
name but you do not fit into the categories described above, then please
contact Thawte at server-certs@thawte.com
to discuss your situation.
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Proof
of the Right to a Domain
The "common name" of a web server certificate is by convention set to
the domain name of the server upon which the certificate will be used.
We also ask that you put this "common name" into Microsoft Authenticode
and Netscape Object Signing certificates. The domain name can be a wildcard,
such as "*.microsoft.com", or it can be the name of a standard host, like
"www.microsoft.com".
Your organization will have gone through a process of registration in
order to register your domain name. Because we will be issuing a certificate
tied to a domain name we need to be sure that you have the right to use
that domain, so we need you to send us documentation proving that right.
The procedure that you followed to register the domain depends upon your
location. The InterNIC handles all domain registrations for the US, as
well as all .COM domains. Different countries each have procedures for
the registration of domains under their country codes.
We do NOT need this letter if your domain ends in:
.COM, .EDU, .ORG, .NET .SE
We need to know the following about your domain name registration:
1.Which authority you registered through.
2.The name and contact information you gave as an administrative contact.
3.The name and contact information you gave as a technical contact.
We will use this information to verify your right to use the domain name
we are certifying. All you need to send us is a printout of the domain
registration application you made, or the WHOIS output for your domain.
Your system administrator or ISP will know what that is. Your domain NIC
also needs to have a WHOIS server, so we can confirm those details independently.
Most domain NIC's have WHOIS servers, but some of the newer commercial
domains do not.
Please note: only send us the documentation once steps
1, 2 & 3
have been completed and you have been allocated your request code!
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