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.
Salem is a city in northern Columbiana County and extreme southern Mahoning County, Ohio, United States. At the 2000 census, the city's population was 12,197. Salem is a principal city of the East Liverpool-Salem Micropolitan Statistical Area, which includes all of Columbiana County. The small portion of the city that extends into Mahoning County is considered part of the Youngstown-Warren-Boardman, OH-PA Metropolitan Statistical Area. Both of these are components of the Youngstown-Warren-East Liverpool, OH-PA Combined Statistical Area.