Thank you (and GP) for the Paglen reference, I remember watching this talk but could not find it again afterward. Now bookmarked.

I especially like how the CCC crowd slowly realizes why a photographer/artist would be talking at this conf at all. There's definitely a "ho shit, that guy ain't playing" moment there.

I was there, and that was exactly how most of the audience did react after 15 min. into his talk.

Many people need to watch this. It reformatted much of my belief system in a disruptive way. That guy is something else.

Can you summarise this for those of us who haven't watched the video?

Summarize how it changed my belief system (or gave it a dent)? Or summarize the video? Ok, here's a summary: the video is just one of the most watchable things I've come across.

The changes to your belief system.

The guy thinks a CIA front company got sued and then provided documents during discovery that revealed covert operations.

That is incorrect. He first mentions CIA fronts, but then goes on to discuss real companies that occasionally do business with the CIA 'on the side'. Two of these (Sportsflight and Richmor) sued each others on activities that happened to be tied to the CIA.

He did not make that claim out of thin air, but produced documents that were publicly available.

The New Yorker provided more details on this topic in a piece they did on Paglen:

"More than fifteen hundred documents were made public in the case: invoices, e-mails, cell-phone logs, receipts. These contained financial data—a typical rendition itinerary seems to have cost the government about three hundred thousand dollars—and structural details of the rendition program."

Source: http://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2012/10/22/prying-eyes

The article also notes that he is recognized by other journalists for his work on renditions.