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.
Rock Springs is a city in Sweetwater County, Wyoming, United States. The population was 18,708 at the 2000 census. Rock Springs is the principal city of the Rock Springs micropolitan statistical area, which has a population of 37,975. One of the worst race riots in American history, known as the Rock Springs Massacre, occurred among miners working near Rock Springs on September 2, 1885. As of 2006, there are still remains of the old coal mining towns outside of Rock Springs, Wyoming. Rock Springs was featured on "60 Minutes" in 1970, due to corruption within the Police Department and City Government. A follow up was filmed 20 years later for the show "City Confidential". The episode was named "Rock Springs: Deadly Draw in the Wild West". Rock Springs is also home to Western Wyoming Community College, and Wyoming's Big Show a yearly event featuring a carnival and concerts, held at the Sweetwater County Events Complex. Rock Springs is located in an energy-rich region that boasts a large number of oil and natural gas wells.