Mr. Sundstrom, ERDI’s president, said education companies pay a fee to attend events “not to meet school leaders or make a sale,” but to get meaningful feedback on their education products from knowledgeable school leaders. He added that school officials do not make purchases at ERDI sessions and that it is their school boards that approve district purchases.

The district wanted a device that would work both for youngsters who couldn’t yet type and for high schoolers. In early 2014, it chose a particularly complex machine, an HP laptop that converts to a tablet. That device ranked third out of four devices the district considered, according to the district’s hardware evaluation forms, which The Times obtained. Over all, the HP device scored 27 on a 46-point scale. A Dell device ranked first at 34.

In some significant ways, the industry’s efforts to push laptops and apps in schools resemble influence techniques pioneered by drug makers. The pharmaceutical industry has long cultivated physicians as experts and financed organizations, like patient advocacy groups, to promote its products.Studies have found that strategies like these work, and even a free $20 meal from a drug maker can influence a doctor’s prescribing practices. That is one reason the government today maintains a database of drug maker payments, including meals, to many physicians.

These requirements, however, are said to be “widely ignored,”58 and affirmative disclosure is still seen by many as a “backwater, drab corner” of FOIA activity59—and of administrative law more broadly60—as compared to requests for documents.

he system of legal entitlements that FOIA creates is so broadly accessible, and potentially so divorced from public policy goals in any given instance, that it seems better characterized not as a private attorney general regime but rather as a personal enforcement regime.

Public-oriented inquiries by concerned citizens and their advocates, however, make up only a small fraction of the 700,000-plus FOIA requests submitted each year.32 Studies have consistently shown that the bulk of requests come from businesses seeking to further their own commercial interests by learning about competitors, litigation opponents, or the regulatory environment.33 Beyond businesses and trade groups, other significant classes of FOIA users include individuals seeking records related to their government

Notwithstanding FOIA’s explicit requirement of de novo judicial review,8 the courts affirm agency denial decisions at extraordinary rates.9 Attorneys’ fees and other litigation costs remain difficult to recover,10monetary damages are unavailable,11 and sanctions for improper withholding are virtually never applied.12 The law’s efficacy depends on a steady supply of tenacious requesters who know what to look for; in practice, corporate lawyers, information resellers, and other private rent-seekers use it most.13