Corporations use the Freedom of Information Act as a competitive tool; a weapon, if you will. A judge's ruling Tuesday shows how.

U.S. District Judge Gladys Kessler denied a bid by Boeing to block release of certain contract information by the Air Force. Through a FOIA request filed back in January 2004, a company called Federal Sources sought copies of documents related to a satellite-construction contract. Federal Sources, though, is a cut-out, masking the true requestor. Noted Kessler:

"Federal Sources is a fee-based commercial service that submits FOIA requests on behalf of
companies or individuals. Boeing believes that the requestor is Boeing’s major competitor, Lockheed Martin."

This happens all the time. The Food and Drug Administration, for instance, is constantly receiving FOIA requests filed by several FOIA-service companies employed by drug manufacturers and the like.

In the case of the satellite contracts, Boeing objected to the release of information concerning wages, profits and overhead costs. Following some discussions, the company allowed the release of some older information but "objected to the release of such data for the 2000-2004 period on the ground that it could be used to predict Boeing’s future labor rates."

Judge Kessler, though, wasn't convinced; she concluded:

"Despite Boeing’s allegation that releasing the requested information would place a competitor in a 'good position' to make a 'good judgment,' (about Boeing's costs) it fails to demonstrate, for the overwhelming majority of the requested information, how it would be possible for a competitor to make these 'good judgments.'”