Governments are basically corporations with varying degrees of public ownership that have monopolies on societal goods. I would consider this corporate espionage.<p>The US also engages in corporate espionage through the NSA in the interest of its defense contractors.
<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/National_Security_Agency#ECHELON" rel="nofollow">http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/National_Security_Agency#ECHELO...</a> (last paragraph)