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.
California City, incorporated in 1965, is a city located in the northern Antelope Valley in Kern County, 65 miles southwest of Death Valley National Park, in the U.S. state of California. The population was 8,385 at the 2000 census. Estimated population in July 2006 is 12,659. California City has one prison (the California City Correctional Center, operated by the Corrections Corporation of America), one landowners' resort, one PGA golf course, and one municipal airport. Much of the workforce of Edwards Air Force Base, which is located just to the south of the city, is made up of city residents. Other major sources of employment include California City Prison, Silver Saddle, Mojave Airport and its boneyard plane salvaging operations, the Honda Proving Center to the north, the new Hyundai/Kia Proving Grounds located to its southwest, and nearby cities such as Tehachapi, Ridgecrest, Boron, Palmdale, and Lancaster. Temperatures range from about 33 °F (1 °C) to about 118 °F (48 °C).