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.
North River is a hamlet in the Town of Johnsburg, in Upstate New York, within the Adirondack Mountains. It is located on the upper Hudson River five miles north of the village of North Creek in Warren County, on the northern border with Hamilton County. Historically it was one of the centers of the New York State garnet industry. The last remaining garnet mine in New York is located close to North River. The hardest garnets in the world come from the Adirondacks and are still in demand, especially for industrial use. There is also a former garnet mine, the Hooper Mine, that is a tourist site. A local attraction is Gore Mountain, one of the tallest in New York and a skiing center.