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.
Stillwater is a city in and the county seat of Payne County, Oklahoma, United States. The population was 39,065 at the 2000 census. Founded December 12, 1884 it was the first settlement in the Unassigned Lands. The geographical position of Stillwater is located Northeast of the Oklahoma City Metropolitan Area though many consider it to be a satellite exburb of Oklahoma City, due to commuter patterns and other indicators. The city of Stillwater is marketing a new census for 2010, implementing a program named "Count Stillwater" to help utilize the students of Oklahoma State University to increase the official population. The census is estimating a population of over 50,000, which would qualify Stillwater as its own Metropolitan Statistical Area. The city of Stillwater is currently developing and implementing a program, named "Count Stillwater". This would attract a significant number of new businesses and restaurants to the City and continue to grow "Oklahoma's fastest growing city."