Certification Authority Liability Analysis

Abstract

This paper surveys the liability issues raised by an entity’s entry into the certification authority business. Because the duties and potential liabilities imposed upon a CA by applicable law are unclear, this paper addresses the major sources of U.S. law likely to provide a basis for certification of authority liability, and analyzes those areas of the law in analogous situations in an attempt to determine how they might be applied to the activities of a certification authority. The focus is on what appear to be the four primary areas of potential liability: negligent misrepresentation, breach of warranty, intellectual property infringement, and liability for the conduct of others.