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.
Norris is a small unincorporated community in northeastern Madison County, Montana, United States, at the intersection of U.S. Route 287 and Montana Highway 84. The location is a hilly, relatively arid area used for farming and ranching; the Tobacco Root Mountains form a visual backdrop to the west. Several mining districts were located in the area in the 1860s, though their success was generally brief. A now-abandoned branchline of the former Northern Pacific Railway once terminated at Norris. Norris Hot Springs is just east of the town, and an agricultural experiment station operated by Montana State University - Bozeman is at Red Bluff, about three miles east on Highway 84.