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.
Ray Brook is a hamlet in New York State, USA located on NY 86 between Saranac Lake and Lake Placid in the Town of North Elba in Essex County. It is the site of the Adirondack Park Agency, the District 5 office of the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation, the Federal Correctional Institution, Ray Brook and the Adirondack Correctional Facility. In 1904, it was the site of the first state-operated tuberculosis sanatorium. Subsequent to the development of effective treatments for tuberculosis, the property was used by the Drug Addiction Control Commission for enforcement and treatment in 1971. Later it was used for Olympic staff housing for the 1980 Winter Olympics and for the Olympic Village; after the games it became a new State Prison, and 200 acres (0.81 km) deeded to the federal government became a new federal prison. The New York State Department of Environmental Conservation, Region 5, is headquartered in Raybrook; it operates the Meadowbrook Campground across the road from its offices. The headquarters of the New York State Police Troop B was built in Ray Brook in 1979; Troop B is responsible for Clinton, Essex, Franklin, Hamilton and St. Lawrence counties.