“*** Given that ISO-3166 is actively maintained - thus your recollection is, 
unfortunately, not correct or accurate - it would be useful to understand why 
you see deviating from this, and what problems you would believe it would 
solve.”
It appears you are unwilling to allow the BRs to deviate ISO-3166 – correct?

If so, what other remedy is available to Dimitris to be able to use C=EL for 
Greece instead of C=GR?

From: Ryan Sleevi [mailto:sle...@google.com]
Sent: Friday, March 17, 2017 4:36 PM
To: Kirk Hall <kirk.h...@entrustdatacard.com>
Cc: CA/Browser Forum Public Discussion List <public@cabforum.org>; Dimitris 
Zacharopoulos <ji...@it.auth.gr>
Subject: Re: [cabfpub] C=GR, C=UK exceptions in BRs

Hi Kirk,

Could you highlight where I said that? It would be useful to understand what 
caused your confusion, as that's not what I said.

On Fri, Mar 17, 2017 at 7:33 PM, Kirk Hall 
<kirk.h...@entrustdatacard.com<mailto:kirk.h...@entrustdatacard.com>> wrote:
So there is your answer, Dimitris – Ryan thinks you must petition ISO.  Good 
luck with that.

From: Ryan Sleevi [mailto:sle...@google.com<mailto:sle...@google.com>]
Sent: Friday, March 17, 2017 4:06 PM
To: Kirk Hall 
<kirk.h...@entrustdatacard.com<mailto:kirk.h...@entrustdatacard.com>>
Cc: CA/Browser Forum Public Discussion List 
<public@cabforum.org<mailto:public@cabforum.org>>; Dimitris Zacharopoulos 
<ji...@it.auth.gr<mailto:ji...@it.auth.gr>>
Subject: Re: [cabfpub] C=GR, C=UK exceptions in BRs



On Fri, Mar 17, 2017 at 6:55 PM, Kirk Hall 
<kirk.h...@entrustdatacard.com<mailto:kirk.h...@entrustdatacard.com>> wrote:
Ryan makes a good point – where there is a conflict between local law or 
practice (or desired practice) and the BRs, the best first step is to amend the 
BRs to allow compliance with local law or practice (or desired practice).

As I recall the country codes we are all stuck with were created in the 1960s 
for a purpose unrelated to SSL and digital certificates.  There must have been 
a good reason for representing the United Kingdom (England, Wales, Scotland 
(for now), and Northern Ireland) as “GB” when Northern Island (part of the UK) 
is not in Great Britain and UK is the more generally known acronym for the 
United Kingdom – but I can’t imagine what the good reason was.

Instead of a ballot that presents a sweeping new structure for country names, 
or points to another new document, maybe we just create an Appendix to the BRs 
that allows different country codes for Greece and the United Kingdom (as an 
alternative).  We would endorse such a ballot.

Can you explain why?

That is - Why you would endorse such a ballot? Why you believe the Forum should 
change?

I appreciate that you highlighted your unfamiliarity with the history of why 
these country codes exist, or what their values should be, as this serves as a 
useful reminder to highlight the notion of Chesterton's Fence, named after the 
poet-philosopher G.K. Chesterton.

While you can find many resources on this topic, perhaps it's worthwhile to 
quote the Wikipedia entry on 
him<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/G._K._Chesterton> that explains this concept:

Chesterton's fence is the principle that reforms should not be made until the 
reasoning behind the existing state of affairs is understood. The quotation is 
from Chesterton’s 1929 book The Thing: Why I am a Catholic, in the chapter 
entitled "The Drift from Domesticity": "In the matter of reforming things, as 
distinct from deforming them, there is one plain and simple principle; a 
principle which will probably be called a paradox. There exists in such a case 
a certain institution or law; let us say, for the sake of simplicity, a fence 
or gate erected across a road. The more modern type of reformer goes gaily up 
to it and says, “I don’t see the use of this; let us clear it away." To which 
the more intelligent type of reformer will do well to answer: "If you don’t see 
the use of it, I certainly won’t let you clear it away. Go away and think. 
Then, when you can come back and tell me that you do see the use of it, I may 
allow you to destroy it."

I think that we would be opposed to such a ballot until details can be provided 
that hopefully satisfy this simple request. In my reply, which it sounds like 
you agree with, I highlighted the problem that the existing Baseline 
Requirements are trying to address. It's unclear to me whether you understood, 
but disagreed, with my statement, or whether you simply misread it. Given that 
ISO-3166 is actively maintained - thus your recollection is, unfortunately, not 
correct or accurate - it would be useful to understand why you see deviating 
from this, and what problems you would believe it would solve.

I appreciate your thoughtful consideration of this very simple request.

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