diff --git a/build.xml b/build.xml
index 1ce4089d..94097691 100644
--- a/build.xml
+++ b/build.xml
@@ -1272,17 +1272,6 @@
             x="${mdx.dir}/uk/extract_authorities.xsl"/>
     </target>
 
-    <!--
-        Check authorities
-    -->
-    <target name="check.authorities">
-        <echo>Checking authority certificates</echo>
-        <exec executable="perl" dir="${mdx.dir}/uk"
-            input="${mdx.dir}/uk/authorities.pem">
-            <arg value="${mdx.dir}/uk/check_authorities.pl"/>
-        </exec>
-    </target>
-
     <!--
         Utility to fold overlong embedded certificates.
     -->
diff --git a/mdx/uk/check_authorities.pl b/mdx/uk/check_authorities.pl
deleted file mode 100755
index 2d5f1ee2..00000000
--- a/mdx/uk/check_authorities.pl
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1,160 +0,0 @@
-#!/usr/bin/perl -w
-use File::Temp qw(tempfile);
-use Date::Parse;
-use Digest::SHA1 qw(sha1 sha1_hex sha1_base64);
-
-sub error {
-	my($s) = @_;
-	print '   *** ' . $s . ' ***' . "\n";
-}
-
-sub warning {
-	my ($s) = @_;
-	print '   ' . $s . "\n";
-}
-
-sub comment {
-	my($s) = @_;
-	print '   (' . $s . ')' . "\n";
-}
-
-while (<>) {
-
-	#
-	# Handle certificate header line.
-	#
-	if (/BEGIN CERTIFICATE/) {
-		
-		#
-		# Create a temporary file for this certificate in PEM format.
-		#
-		($fh, $filename) = tempfile(UNLINK => 1);
-		#print "temp file is: $filename\n";
-
-		# do not buffer output to the temporary file
-		select((select($fh), $|=1)[0]);
-	}
-	
-	#
-	# Put all lines into a temporary file.
-	#
-	print $fh $_;
-	
-	#
-	# If this is the last line of the certificate, actually do
-	# something with it.
-	#
-	if (/END CERTIFICATE/) {
-		#
-		# Don't close the temporary file yet, because that would cause it
-		# to be deleted.  We've already arranged for buffering to be
-		# disabled, so the file can simply be passed to other applications
-		# as input, perhaps multiple times.
-		#
-		
-		#
-		# Use openssl to convert the certificate to text
-		#
-		my(@lines, $issuer, $issuerCN, $subject, $subjectCN, $pubSize);
-		$cmd = "openssl x509 -in $filename -noout -text -nameopt RFC2253 -modulus |";
-		open(SSL, $cmd) || die "could not open openssl subcommand";
-		while (<SSL>) {
-			push @lines, $_;
-
-			#
-			# Extract the issuer and subject names.
-			#
-			if (/^\s*Issuer:\s*(.*)$/) {
-				$issuer = $1;
-				next;
-			} elsif (/^\s*Subject:\s*(.*)$/) {
-				$subject = $1;
-				next;
-			}
-			
-			#
-			# Extract the public key size.  This is displayed differently
-			# in different versions of OpenSSL.
-			#
-			if (/RSA Public Key: \((\d+) bit\)/) { # OpenSSL 0.9x
-				$pubSize = $1;
-				next;
-			} elsif (/^\s*Public-Key: \((\d+) bit\)/) { # OpenSSL 1.0
-				$pubSize = $1;
-				next;
-			}
-			
-			#
-			# Extract best-before date/time.
-			#
-			if (/Not After : (.*)$/) {
-				$notAfter = $1;
-				next;
-			}
-			
-			#
-			# Extract the public key exponent.
-			#
-			if (/Exponent: (\d+)/) {
-				$exponent = $1;
-				# print "   exponent: $exponent\n";
-				next;
-			}
-
-		}
-		close SSL;
-		#print "   text lines: $#lines\n";
-
-		#
-		# Close the temporary file, which will also cause
-		# it to be deleted.
-		#
-		close $fh;
-
-		#
-		# Print a header, distinguishing the role of the certificate.
-		#		
-		if ($subject eq $issuer) {
-			# self-signed certificate, i.e., root
-			print " \n"; # force blank line in Ant output
-			print "Root certificate:\n";
-			print "   Issuer: $issuer\n";
-		} else {
-			# not self signed, must be intermediate
-			print "Intermediate certificate:\n";
-			print "   Issuer: $issuer\n";
-			print "   Subject: $subject\n";
-		}
-
-		if ($pubSize < 1024) {
-			error('PUBLIC KEY TOO SHORT');
-		} elsif ($pubSize < 2048) {
-			warning("short public key of $pubSize bits");
-		}
-
-		#print "   not after $notAfter\n";
-		$days = (str2time($notAfter)-time())/86400.0;
-		if ($days < 0) {
-			print "   *** EXPIRED ***\n";
-		} elsif ($days < 365) {
-			$days = int($days);
-			print "   *** expires in $days days at $notAfter\n";
-		} elsif ($days < (365*2)) {
-			$days = int($days);
-			print "   expires in $days days at $notAfter\n";
-		}
-
-		#
-		# Look for reasonable public exponent values.
-		#
-		if (($exponent & 1) == 0) {
-			error("RSA public exponent $exponent is even");
-		} elsif ($exponent <= 3) {
-			error("insecure RSA public exponent $exponent");
-		} elsif ($exponent < 65537) {
-			warning("small RSA public exponent $exponent")
-		}
-			
-		print "\n";
-	}
-}