Consumer protection refers to the laws designed to aid retail consumers of goods and services that have been improperly manufactured, delivered, performed, handled, or described. Such laws provide the retail consumer with additional protections and remedies not generally provided to merchants and others who engage in business transactions, on the premise that the consumers do not enjoy a sufficient bargaining position with respect to the businessmen with whom they deal and therefore should not be strictly limited by the legal rules that govern recovery for damages among businessmen. The overarching goal is to protect individuals and the interest of the public in general from unfair and misleading activity in business and commerce (such as false advertising and deceptive trade practices) and scams perpetrated by criminals (such as identity theft and pyramid schemes) that harm a substantial number of consumers.
Alleghany is a small unincorporated community in Sierra County, California, United States in the Sierra Nevada mountains. It is situated in the Gold Country and continues to be a significant locale for gold mining. The famous Sixteen-to-One Mine has been in operation since the days of the California Gold Rush. The town is 20 miles (32 km) from the nearest highway and consists largely of a single main street. The population is around 85. The town is home to a post office, a bar, and a mining museum. The community was named in 1859 for the Alleghany Tunnel mine that fueled the growth of the town when it struck gold four years earlier. The mine itself was named for the Allegheny River.