Some are accessible online. If you are a corporation you file one too. Ask your chief financial officer what is filed for your own company that will give you some idea what you can get from the secretary of state. Often you can get sales, company officers, ucc filings and company liens. There is a big difference.
Espionage is the use of illegal means to gather information.
On the other hand, CI is the process of gathering data using legal, ethical means and turning it into valuable intelligence through careful analysis. A recent policy analysis conducted by SCIP showed that CI practitioners who act consistently within the SCIP code of ethics should not run afoul of the Economic Espionage Act of 1996, the law which governs CI activities. Robert Douglas, a former private investigator who is now a security and privacy consultant, said investigators often cross legal and ethical lines on behalf of corporate clients, who generally do not ask how information is obtained. You go out and get as much as possible about your opponent, your opponent's associates. Look at their 10Q SEC filing.