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.
Bellefonte is a borough in Centre County, Pennsylvania, United States. It lies about twelve miles northeast of State College and is part of the State College, Pennsylvania Metropolitan Statistical Area. The population in 2007 is approximately 7,000 . It is the county seat of Centre County with the courthouse located downtown on the square. The town features many examples of Victorian architecture, as well as a natural spring, from which the town gets its name (bestowed by Charles Maurice de Talleyrand-Périgord during a land-speculation visit to central Pennsylvania in the 1790s). However the spring, which serves as the town's water supply, has been covered to comply with DEP water purity laws (not, as is commonly believed, for fear of its being poisoned). One of the town's historic sections experienced a renaissance in 2004. The Match Factory, after standing vacant since 1996, was being renovated by the American Philatelic Society as their new home, one building at a time. The site was placed on the National Register of Historic Places in 2001 and the town was anxious to find an appropriate owner for the historic property. The town is also home to five of Pennsylvania's governors. There is a monument in Talleyrand showing them.