Agreement and Scope

Effective date: 9 October 2026.

These Legal Terms govern the request, registration, renewal, transfer, management, suspension, and use of domain names under .GM.

“GM-NIC”, “Registry”, “we”, or “us” means the .GM ccTLD manager and Registry administration identified in the official IANA .GM delegation record. “Registrant” or “you” means the individual or legal entity granted the conditional right to use a .GM domain. A Registrar acts for the Registrant when submitting or managing a request.

Cypdom Ltd. acts under agreement as the Supporting Organization for most day-to-day services, billing, and communication with International Registrars. Cypdom is not substituted as the .GM Registry manager. Separate written Cypdom commercial or billing terms may also apply.

1. Acceptance and Authority

1.1 By requesting, registering, renewing, transferring, or managing a .GM domain, the Registrant accepts these Legal Terms and the current .GM Registration Policy.

1.2 A Registrar or other person acting for a Registrant warrants that it has authority to act, has made the current terms available to the Registrant, and has obtained all permissions required to submit the registration data.

1.3 No person may rely on an availability result, quotation, application, payment, or preliminary activation as a guarantee of final registration or approval.

2. Registration, Review, and Right of Use

2.1 Requests are processed in accordance with the Registration Policy, Registry status, technical requirements, documentation, applicable law, and protection of the .GM namespace.

2.2 The Registrant receives a conditional, renewable, and revocable contractual right to use the domain for the registration period. A domain registration is not property, does not create trademark or other ownership rights in the name, and remains subject to these terms.

2.3 Initial DNS activation and final administrative approval are separate. The Registry may request information, reclassify, approve, reject, suspend, lock, transfer, or revoke a request or registration where permitted by these terms.

3. Registrant Warranties and Data Accuracy

3.1 The Registrant warrants that all information submitted is complete, accurate, current, and not misleading; that the requested name and its intended use are lawful; and that the registration does not knowingly infringe another party's rights.

3.2 The Registrant must keep Registrant, administrative, billing, technical, email, and nameserver information current and must promptly correct inaccurate information.

3.3 The Registrant is responsible for actions taken in relation to the domain by persons acting on its instructions or authority, including its Registrar, agents, employees, contractors, and authorised users, without limiting any separate responsibility of those parties.

4. Registrars and Agents

4.1 The Registrant may appoint an accredited Registrar and administrative, billing, or technical agents. Appointment of an agent does not transfer the Registrant's rights or obligations.

4.2 The Registrar is responsible for ordinary customer support, accurate submission of data, communication of Registry notices, and maintaining sufficient authority to act.

4.3 GM-NIC may communicate through the Registrar or directly with the Registrant where necessary for verification, security, abuse, legal, payment, transfer, or continuity reasons.

5. Fees, Renewal, and Payment

5.1 Registration, renewal, category, administration, sales-price, ownership-change, restoration, and other service fees are governed by the current Fee/Billing documents, except where a separate written agreement expressly provides otherwise.

5.2 The Registrant and Registrar are responsible for timely payment of fees applicable to them under their respective arrangements. Non-payment, or insufficient prepaid balance where applicable, may result in a transaction being held, non-renewal, suspension, or revocation.

5.3 Fees already earned or costs already incurred are non-refundable except where required by law or expressly agreed in writing.

6. Refusal, Suspension, Lock, Transfer, and Revocation

6.1 GM-NIC may refuse, suspend, lock, transfer, correct, or revoke a domain where reasonably necessary because of non-payment, inaccurate or unverifiable data, breach of these terms, unlawful or abusive use, established infringement or serious rights concerns requiring protective action, security or DNS stability, fraud, impersonation, licensing requirements, a court or competent-authority order, or protection of the .GM namespace or public interest.

6.2 Urgent action may be taken without prior notice where delay could increase harm. Where practicable, notice and a reasonable opportunity to respond will be provided before action, or promptly afterwards where prior notice is not practicable.

6.3 GM-NIC may maintain or lock a registration or status, and retain relevant Registry records, while a dispute, investigation, appeal, payment issue, transfer, or legal process remains unresolved.

7. Third-Party Rights and Disputes

7.1 Registration does not determine entitlement to a name. The Registrant is responsible for assessing trademark, company-name, personality, consumer-protection, unfair-competition, and other third-party rights.

7.2 GM-NIC does not ordinarily adjudicate private disputes. It may implement a settlement, final court order, competent arbitral decision, or an applicable .GM dispute procedure.

7.3 The ICANN UDRP does not apply to .GM unless expressly adopted by GM-NIC. The parties may nevertheless agree to use an appropriate WIPO or other dispute-resolution procedure. Nothing prevents a party from seeking relief from a court of competent jurisdiction.

8. Registration Data and WHOIS

8.1 GM-NIC collects registration and contact data needed to operate the Registry, maintain accurate records, provide DNS and WHOIS/RDAP-type services, manage billing and support, prevent abuse, and comply with law.

8.2 Public registration data will be limited or redacted where required or appropriate under applicable data-protection law. Non-public data may be disclosed, where reasonably necessary and legally permitted, to the Registrant, authorised agents, service providers, dispute providers, auditors, law-enforcement or public authorities, or other parties demonstrating a lawful and documented basis.

8.3 The Registrant and Registrar must not misuse Registry data or use it for unlawful marketing, harassment, profiling, credential attacks, or other abusive purposes.

9. Data Protection

9.1 GM-NIC and, for International Registrar services, Cypdom process personal data only for legitimate Registry, contractual, security, billing, legal, and operational purposes. Personal data is not sold.

9.2 Each Registrar is separately responsible for its own collection and processing of customer data and for giving required notices and obtaining a lawful basis for submission to GM-NIC or Cypdom.

9.3 Where Cypdom processes personal data in connection with its activities in Cyprus, the GDPR and Cyprus Law 125(I)/2018 apply as required. Data may be transferred internationally where necessary for Registry operations, DNS, support, security, continuity, or legal compliance, using appropriate safeguards where required.

9.4 Data may be retained for the active registration, technical continuity, accounting, security, dispute, legal, and limitation periods. Requests concerning GM-NIC Registry data may be sent to admin@nic.gm; requests concerning Cypdom-held international support or billing data may be sent to admin@cypdom.com.

10. Security and Abuse

10.1 Registrants and Registrars must protect credentials, API keys, EPP passwords, email accounts, and authorised IP addresses and must promptly report suspected compromise.

10.2 A domain must not be used for malware, phishing, fraud, spam, impersonation, unlawful content or services, attacks on networks or users, or conduct that threatens Registry or DNS stability.

10.3 GM-NIC may investigate, request evidence, restrict access, or take temporary protective action while an abuse or security matter is assessed.

11. Exclusions and Limitation of Liability

11.1 Nothing in these terms excludes or limits liability that cannot lawfully be excluded or limited, including liability for fraud or wilful misconduct and any other mandatory liability under applicable law.

11.2 Subject to clause 11.1, GM-NIC and its officers, staff, agents, and service providers are not liable for indirect, special, incidental, punitive, or consequential loss; loss of profit, revenue, business, goodwill, data, or anticipated savings; or loss caused by third parties, Internet or DNS disruption, force majeure, unauthorised access, inaccurate data supplied by others, or action taken in good faith under these terms.

11.3 Subject to clause 11.1, aggregate liability arising from an affected domain shall not exceed the Registry fees attributable to that domain for the twelve months preceding the event giving rise to the claim.

12. Indemnity

12.1 To the extent permitted by law, the Registrant shall indemnify GM-NIC, its officers, staff, agents, and service providers against third-party claims, resulting losses, and reasonable legal costs arising from the Registrant's breach of these terms, unlawful registration or use, inaccurate authority or data, or infringement of third-party rights. GM-NIC shall give reasonable notice of a claim and allow reasonable cooperation in its defence where practicable.

13. Electronic Communications and Notices

13.1 Notices, invoices, decisions, and other communications may be sent electronically to the latest contact details held by GM-NIC, Cypdom, or the Registrar.

13.2 The Registrant and Registrar are responsible for maintaining current and monitored email addresses. A notice sent to the latest email address held for the registration by GM-NIC, Cypdom, or the Registrar is deemed received when sent, unless the sender receives a permanent delivery failure.

14. Amendments

14.1 GM-NIC may amend these Legal Terms, the Registration Policy, technical requirements, and Registry procedures. Material changes will be published on NIC.GM with an effective date and, where reasonably practicable, notified through Registrars or the Dashboard. Changes required by law, security, DNS stability, or urgent Registry operations may take effect immediately.

14.2 Amendments apply from their stated effective date. Renewal or continued management of a .GM domain after that date constitutes acceptance of the amended terms, subject to mandatory law.

15. Surrender and Termination

15.1 A Registrant may request surrender or deletion through its Registrar or directly where GM-NIC permits. Surrender does not entitle the Registrant to a refund and does not remove accrued liabilities.

15.2 Expiry, surrender, suspension, or revocation does not affect provisions intended to survive, including payment, data retention, dispute, liability, indemnity, and governing-law provisions.

16. Force Majeure

16.1 GM-NIC is not liable for delay or failure caused by events beyond reasonable control, including telecommunications or power failure, DNS or Internet disruption, cyberattack, natural disaster, war, civil disturbance, government action, labour disruption, supplier failure, or other force-majeure event. GM-NIC will take reasonable steps to restore affected services.

17. Assignment

17.1 The Registrant may not assign or transfer its rights except through an approved Registry change-of-Registrant or transfer procedure. GM-NIC may delegate operational functions to service providers and may transfer its rights and obligations under these terms to a successor .GM manager, where consistent with applicable delegation and law.

18. Severability and Waiver

18.1 If a provision is invalid or unenforceable, it shall be limited or removed only to the minimum extent necessary and the remaining provisions remain effective. Failure or delay in enforcing a right is not a waiver.

19. Governing Law and Jurisdiction

19.1 Domain registration, Registry policy, and decisions of GM-NIC are governed by the laws of The Gambia. After the internal appeal process, the courts of The Gambia have exclusive jurisdiction over disputes directly between the Registrant and GM-NIC concerning these terms or a .GM registration, except where urgent interim relief is reasonably required or mandatory law provides otherwise.

19.2 A separate written agreement with Cypdom may provide that Cyprus law and Cyprus courts govern Cypdom's billing, prepayment, support, or other commercial services. Such a clause does not alter GM-NIC's authority over the .GM registration or Registry policy.

20. Appeals

20.1 A written appeal against refusal, reclassification, suspension, transfer, or revocation may be submitted to admin@nic.gm within 30 days of notice. The appeal should identify the domain, decision, grounds, and supporting evidence. An appeal does not automatically stay the decision or any urgent security, legal, payment, abuse, or protective action, unless GM-NIC decides otherwise.

21. Document Priority and Entire Agreement

21.1 A signed agreement with GM-NIC, or entered into under its authority, prevails where it expressly changes these terms. For Registry rights and obligations, these Legal Terms prevail over the Registration Policy, which prevails over operational guidance. For fee amounts and billing procedures, the current Fee/Billing document or signed commercial agreement controls.

21.2 These documents constitute the entire agreement governing the .GM registration and supersede all prior versions, statements, and representations published on the website before the effective date of these documents. In the event of any inconsistency between these documents, the order of priority stated in clause 21.1 shall apply. The English-language version shall prevail.