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.
Marshall is an unincorporated community in Marin County, California. It is located on the northeast shore of Tomales Bay 6 miles (9.7 km) south of Tomales, at an elevation of 23 feet (7 m). Marshall is located on the east shore of Tomales Bay. It has a population of about 400, although it has long claimed a population of 50 and touted this as the sum of the elevation and the speed limit of 35 miles per hour (56 km/h) . It is located approximately 15 miles (24 km) south east of Bodega Bay, on State Route 1. Its ZIP code is 94940. The town is named after four brothers called Marshall, who set up a dairying industry there in the 1850s. Starting in the 1870s, Marshall was a stop on the North Pacific Coast Railroad connecting Cazadero to the Sausalito ferry. There is still some dairying in the area, but nowadays the town's major commerce is in oysters and clams, for which it is a center. It also acts as a center for tourists visiting Tomales Bay and the neighbouring Point Reyes Peninsula.