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.
Frederick is a city in west-central Maryland, United States. It is the county seat of Frederick County, the largest county by area in the state of Maryland. Frederick is an outlying community of the Washington-Arlington-Alexandria, DC-VA-MD-WV Metropolitan Statistical Area, which is part of a greater Washington-Baltimore-Northern Virginia, DC-MD-VA-WV Combined Statistical Area. As of the 2008 U.S. Census Bureau estimates, the city has a total population of 59,213, making it the third-largest incorporated area in Maryland, behind Baltimore and Rockville. Frederick is home to Frederick Municipal Airport (FDK), which primarily accommodates general aviation traffic, and to the U.S. Army's Fort Detrick, the largest employer in the county. Frederick is also home to BP Solar, which is the second-largest employer in the county.