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.
Sackets Harbor is a village in Jefferson County, New York, United States. The population was 1,386 at the 2000 census. The village was named after land developer and owner Augustus Sackett who founded it in the early 1800s. The Village of Sackets Harbor is within the western part of the Town of Hounsfield and is west of Watertown. The heart of the village, with a Main Street and well-preserved 19th c. buildings, has been recognized as the Sackets Harbor Village Historic District and listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1983. Because of its unique protected harbor on Lake Ontario and military installations created there, the village had national importance through the 19th century. To support the War of 1812, the US Navy built a major shipyard and its headquarters for the Great Lakes at the village. The Army constructed earthworks, forts, barracks and supporting infrastructure to defend the village and navy shipyard. Soon after the war, the Army strengthened its defenses on the northern frontier by constructing Madison Barracks. Sackets Harbor Battlefield State Historic Site commemorates a battle and the contribution of the area to the stalemate of the War of 1812.