It's about time somebody made a media award that actually does something other than serve as a impromptu murder weapon. At this years SXSW festival, the Web Awards were built around Bleep Labs' Thingamagoop 2, the analog synth toy (which now has digital/Arduino-control capability).

Bleep Labs

In the Maker Shed:


Thingamagoop 2
Our Price: $100.00
Make, mod, hack, and bend your own analog noise monster! Great for beginners with its detailed instructions and photos of each step. Advanced users can taking advantage of Arduino integration, control voltage in and out, or just bend it like crazy! Choose from 3 colors!

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Whether it's sweet or savoury, breakfast or dinner, the addition of a little nutmeg can improve a dish no end

In this final part of my spice trilogy, I'm not quite saving the best until last, but I am perhaps saving the most versatile. Nutmeg is the spice that transcends cultures and cuisines, sweet and savoury, and takes the flavour-hungry cook from breakfast to dinner with its sweet, warming, pungent aroma.

Not surprisingly, such a miraculous spice has a history splattered with bloody rivalry – the gore shed over several centuries in its violent pursuit. Nutmeg is one of the two spices obtained from the beautiful, tropical evergreen tree, Myristica fragrans, the other being its lacy covering, or aril, mace. It is native to the Banda Islands of the Indonesian archipelago, whose spicy bounty was tussled over by the Portuguese, Spanish and Dutch, until the pragmatic French smuggled out a few seeds and planted them in Mauritius, thus breaking the Dutch monopoly.

Nutmeg was probably first brought to Europe by the Crusaders, though it wasn't until the 18th century that we really lost our heads over it (it contains myristicin, which gives it its warmth and savour, and which can also, in huge quantities, have a narcotic effect). It became the height of fashion to carry your own nutmeg around with you, along with a fancy silver grater, to scatter its sweet, aromatic and spicy gratings on everything from drinks to meat.

So much more than something to sprinkle on your cappuccino or hot chocolate, nutmeg's uses are almost too numerous to list. At breakfast time, it gives an added dimension to porridge, eggy bread or muesli. Later in the day, its pungency adds savour to all manner of savoury dishes. It softens spinach's slightly metallic edge, marries beautifully with creamy fried onions in the classic Alsatian tart, perks up cabbage and kale, adds depth to sweet carrots and squash, gives an added shot of subtle flavour to mash, and marries beautifully with charcuterie (see today's quatre-épices blend) and slow-cooked ragùs.

Of course, nutmeg's affinity with eggy, milky dishes is legendary; it's essential to perfect rice pudding and a béchamel sauce would be a poor thing indeed without a grating or two. It has an affinity for orchard or vine fruits – in which context it's more subtle and sophisticated than ubiquitous cinnamon: it steals less from the fruit. So try some in an apple tart, with poached pears or in a cake bursting with juicy dried fruits.

Writing this, I'm now thinking those 18th-century dandies were really on to something, so I'm off to commission a gold nutmeg grater on a chunky chain. Nutmeg bling – you read it here first.

Quatre-épices

This classic French spice blend is used most often in charcuterie, particularly in pork terrines and sausages. If, however, you'd like a sweet blend to add to gingerbread and other kinds of baking, for instance, simply replace the peppercorns with an equal amount of allspice and replace half of the ginger with cinnamon. The finished mix will keep well in a dark place in an airtight container for a couple of months.

2 tbsp white or black peppercorns
1 tsp whole cloves
2½ tsp freshly grated nutmeg
1½ tsp ground ginger

In a spice grinder or clean coffee grinder, whizz the peppercorns and cloves to a fine powder, then mix with the nutmeg and ginger.

If you have neither the time, inclination nor equipment to make your own sausages, give these simple patties a go instead – they're the perfect, spicy addition to a special cooked breakfast. You need to make a start a couple of days before you want to eat them, but it's not as if there's a great deal of work involved. Makes eight to 10 patties.

750g coarsely minced pork (you want it fairly fatty – a mix of shoulder and belly is good) or 600g pork shoulder, coarsely ground, plus 125g streaky bacon, very finely chopped
10g flaky sea salt (5g if you've used bacon rather than pork belly)
1 tsp quatre-épices (recipe above)
1 tsp rosemary leaves, finely chopped
1 tsp thyme leaves, finely chopped
8 sage leaves, finely chopped
¼ tsp chilli flakes
50ml red wine
1 egg yolk
1-2 tbsp groundnut oil
Salt and freshly ground black pepper
1 small handful sage leaves
1 bay leaf

Combine the first eight ingredients in a bowl, cover and refrigerate for two days. Then, when you want to cook your patties, mix in the egg yolk and break off a small piece. Fry this in a little oil, taste for seasoning, then add salt and pepper to the mix as necessary. Form into patties. Warm the oil in a frying pan over a medium-high heat, add the sage leaves and bay leaf, and fry the patties for about four minutes a side. Serve with fried eggs and toast.

Custard tart

This English classic is the perfect combination of soothing, creamy, eggy filling and warming, spicy nutmeg. Makes one large tart or six small ones.

125g unsalted butter, softened
90g caster sugar
1 egg, lightly beaten
250g plain flour, sieved
1 good pinch salt
1 egg yolk whisked with a little water, to glaze

For the filling
500ml double cream
100ml whole milk
1 vanilla pod, split
3 egg yolks
2 eggs
60g golden caster sugar
1 tsp freshly grated nutmeg, plus a little more for grating over the top of the tart

To make the pastry, beat together the butter and sugar until smooth and light, then gradually beat in the egg. Slowly beat in the flour and salt. As soon as you have a crumbly dough, tip it out on to a lightly floured surface and form into a smooth, flattened disc. Wrap in clingfilm and chill for a couple of hours.

On a lightly floured surface, or between two sheets of greaseproof paper, roll out the pastry so that it's large enough to line, with some overhang, a 22cm loose-bottomed flan tin; or divide it into six and use to line six 10cm loose-bottomed flan tins. Don't trim it too closely at this stage, and reserve a little excess pastry for patching up gaps later. Lightly prick the base(s) all over with a fork, line with clingfilm or greaseproof paper, and fill with baking beans (or uncooked rice or dried pulses). Chill for 20 minutes. Heat the oven to 180C/350F/gas mark 4.

Place the flan case(s) on a baking sheet and bake for 10-12 minutes. Carefully lift out the clingfilm or greaseproof paper and baking beans, and trim the edges with a sharp knife. Patch up any tears with the reserved pastry offcuts. Return the flan case(s) to the oven for five to eight minutes, or until it (they) just takes on some colour. Remove from the oven, brush with the egg wash and bake for another five minutes. Remove and set aside to cool. Reduce the oven temperature to 150C/300F/ gas mark 2.

Meanwhile, over a medium-low heat warm the cream and milk with the vanilla pod in a saucepan until bubbles appear around the edge of the pan. While the cream is heating up, beat together the egg yolks, whole eggs and sugar. Pour in the hot cream, stirring constantly, then strain through a sieve into a jug and stir in the nutmeg. Pour into the tart case(s), grate over a little more nutmeg and place on a baking tray.

Bake until just set – they should still wobble a little in the middle: about 13-15 minutes for small tarts, 20-25 minutes for a large one. Serve at room temperature or cold.

· Go to rivercottage.net for the latest news from River Cottage HQ.

• Food & drink
• Baking recipes
• Breakfast
• British recipes
• Dessert recipes
• French recipes
• Herb and spice recipes
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Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstallguardian.co.uk © Guardian News & Media Limited 2010 | Use of this content is subject to our Terms & Conditions | More Feeds

Musicians, DJs and authors to reveal their favourite hangouts

Have your say on the Travel blog

HiFi, New York

HiFi is the best rock'n'roll bar in NYC.The room is covered with empty album sleeves and the juke box is hands-down the best in the city – I believe there are about 3,000 albums on it, so you can't complain about them not having your song. There is a fantastically affordable happy hour and a great local crowd. Like the rest of the East Village, it can get a bit much on weekend nights, but most of the time it's my favourite bar in town.
· 169 Avenue A, +1 212 420 8392.
Craig Finn, lead singer of the Hold Steady

Pegu Club, New York

The entrance to the Pegu is an unassuming doorway on the south side of West Houston Street. It's only when you are up the stairs that the glory of this place hits you. It is like going back to the great clubs of the 20s, when the staff were pretty and jazz and cocktails ruled. On a recent visit, two amazing Django Reinhardt-style guitarists were swinging through 30s classics. Cocktails are taken seriously here – the art of proper, classy drinking is almost a motto. At the weekend it can get pretty busy as it is becoming the "in" place.
· 77 West Houston Street, +1 212 473 7348.
James Pearson, artistic director, Ronnie Scott's, London

Po' Monkey's, Mississippi

It was a balmy night in September when I visited Po' Monkey's juke joint. It's a ramshackle hut powered by a single cable in the tiny town of Merigold, deep in the Mississippi delta. A poster on the door warned: "Bring your liquor inside but not your beer." The walls were cluttered with posters and age-old postcards, while toy monkeys swung from the rafters. It was low lit – smoky but inviting, with beer and whiskey flowing freely. Terry "Harmonica" Bean took to the tiny stage, elbow to elbow with the crowd, and delivered a mind-blowing, foot-stamping performance that will stay with me forever. Delicately soulful cries came from his ageing gruff voice, while stupendous bluegrass melodies oozed effortlessly from his antique steel guitar. This was raw blues at its authentic and spine-shivering best.
· +1 662 514 7488, 15km from Cleveland.
Dan Hipgrave, co-founder of Original Music Company (originalmusictravel.com), which launched this month and specialises in music-themed holidays

The Spirit Store, Ireland

The Spirit Store in Dundalk, County Louth, is on the edge of town beside a small harbour. There's a small, friendly bar downstairs which opens around 4pm, but it is the live music upstairs that is the main draw. You would be hard-pressed to find anywhere as welcoming to an artist and more genuinely music-driven in its programming of events. That's why I keep going back there to play, and why many other artists who have outgrown the 120- or so capacity venue keep returning. So many venues and promoters are about the money but Derek Turner, who books the music, is driven by something much more.
· +353 42 9352697.
Duke Special, musician. His DVD box set, The Stage, A Book & the Silver Screen is out now

The Hideout, London

Not exactly a venue, not exactly a bar, entrance to Trishas/The Hideout/that door on Greek St (as it is variously known), is obtained by boldly knocking on what appears to be the entrance to a flat above a shop, striding through a starkly lit corridor and down a flight of stairs, before mumbling an explanation to the owner as to why you don't appear to be in possession of a membership card – having accidentally put it through the washing machine normally does the trick. Inside, you'll find a cupboard-sized, candle-lit cavern which can be hired out for private music showcases. But stumble in unannounced after hours on a weekend and you might also find a doo wop or jazz band sandwiched into the corner between the usual crowd of transvestites, metropolitan hipsters and veteran Italian locals.
57 Greek Street, Soho, London.
Krissi Murison, editor, NME

The Shed North Yorkshire

I first played at this blink-and-you'll-miss-it shed in the tiny village of Brawby back in 1998. It only held 64 people and we scraped our legs on the front row's knees. It has since moved to Hovingham village hall, though it retains its name. The man behind The Shed, Simon Thackray, has presented events from the Fish and Chip Van Tour with a trombonist, to mixed media knitting installations – saxophonist Lol Coxhill playing free jazz in a skip to coach trips for folks in knitted Elvis wigs touring sites of Elvisian interest in Ryedale. My own band, Hank Wangford and the Lost Cowboys, started a tradition of Christmas gigs at The Shed, where we play morose songs and have a riotously miserable time. The Shed was the inspiration for my village hall tour around Britain, which I am currently writing up as a book. And, after 235 villages, The Shed is still the loony best.
· 01653 668494.
Hank Wangford, writer and musician. His CD, Whistling in the Dark, is out now

A38, Budapest

For me, the greatest gig of 2009 was at A38, a huge old ship that used to lug coal up and down the Danube. The lower deck is now a state-of-the-art live music venue, but bits of engine room equipment are still there. Even though the boat is held down in dry dock by 100 tonnes of concrete, the bottles still jingle on the shelves of the bar when the parties get wild. The booking policy is great – they've had cutting-edge electronic artists such as Ikonika, Dorian Concept and Foreign Beggars play recently. And nothing compares with the signature dish of the restaurant on the upper deck: rooster stew, complete with the crest and testicles of the bird.
· +36 1 464 39 40.
Mary Anne Hobbs, Radio 1 DJ. Her show is broadcast on Thursdays 2-4am

Wild At Heart, Berlin

Wild At Heart is a whisky-soaked, no-nonsense rock'n'roll joint in Berlin's old anarchist district, Kreuzberg: a seven-nights-a-week venue painted blood red, crammed with Elvis memorabilia, Hawaiian gods and a lifetime's supply of hard liquor. For 15 years it has presented bands from all over the world – mostly punk, rockabilly, psychobilly, 60s garage and surf. I spent a memorable evening there talking to TV Smith from the Adverts and another with Wreckless Eric, both of whom started out with punk label Stiff Records in 1977, and I've played there with my band, the Flaming Stars. The music's loud, but the welcome is friendly, and the club also runs the Tiki Heart cafe and clothes shop next door, where you can eat, drink and kit yourself out in a spectacular variety of rock'n'roll clobber.
· Wienerstrasse 20, +49 30 610 747 01.
Max Décharné, singer in the Flaming Stars and author of A Rocket in My Pocket: The Hipster's Guide to Rockabilly, to be published by Serpent's Tail in June

Mesa de Frades, Lisbon

Mesa de Frades in Alfama, the oldest district of Lisbon, is the sort of place you dream of hearing fado, the traditional soulful Portuguese music. A tiny converted chapel with tiled walls, it is full of locals and quality performers booked by owner Pedro Castro, a great guitar player. You can come for the music, which starts late – around 11pm – or book a table and come for an excellent dinner beforehand. A couple of years ago I sat here watching Carminho, the amazing young fado singer who is now the talk of Lisbon. When the music starts, the doors are shut to enclose the tiny performing space. It's what fado in Lisbon should be, but so rarely is.
· Rua dos Remedios 139A, +351 91 702 9436, mesadefrades.com. Booking is essential.
Simon Broughton, editor of Songlines magazine (songlines.co.uk/musictravel)

Il Folk Club, Turin

In the heart of Turin, off Piazza Statuto, you'll find the best of all worlds: from Wednesday to Saturday Il Folk Club plays host to Italian and international jazz, folk and world musicians. How this Italian institution – legendary in Turin for over 20 years – has remained generally unknown to travellers and music junkies outside Italy is a mystery. Alongside its regular programme, Il Folk Club is also the launching point for Radio Londra, a monthly mini-festival which fuses British musicians such as Jim Mullen, Kit Downes, Brandon Allen and Quentin Collins Quartet, with local stars such as Mario Pozza, Enzo Zirilli and Dado Moroni. The bar is simple – one central room with space for about 150 people, exposed brick walls, and a stage – so the focus is always on the incredible music.
Via Ettore Perrone 3, Turin.
Sam Sollai, buyer and events coordinator, Ray's Jazz at Foyles

Gerbard, Barcelona

This little neighbourhood bar used to have a green door with panes that rattled when you opened it, but it has now been replaced with something more solid, partly to keep the sound in. It's run by Mar and Nacho, both dyed-in-the-wool culés (Barcelona supporters), and nights there are long and loud. You can hear Sam Lardner, an American resident who plays his own fusion of flamenco and bossa nova, or wonderful classical and flamenco guitarists like Daniel Figueras and Pedro Javier Hermosilla, or the Covers Project, with frontman Philip Stanton. The eating and drinking are delicious too – Galician-style octopus, traditional meatballs, pimientos de padron (small green peppers), and wine for not much more than a euro a glass. A great night out in the Alta Zona.
· C/ Ivorra 24, Sarria, Barcelona, +93 203 4988.
Rupert Thomson, author living in Barcelona. His latest book, This Party's Got to Stop, will be published on 8 April

La Casona del Molino, Salta, Argentina

Salta, in north-west Argentina, is well-known for its folk music heritage. This has given rise to the creation of pena, which roughly translates as a place where musicians and music lovers come together. Seven nights a week you can experience this at La Casona. The venue's five colonial rooms are filled to the brim with musicians, professional and amateur, folk, jazz and others, locals who come down from the Andes bearing pan pipes and drums, and some foreign visitors, all coming together to jam the local tunes. As a musician, I found great comfort in the fact that this kind of place exists in the world. And of course, many people come simply for the music.
· La Casona del Molino, Caseros.
Lizzie Ball, violinist and singer. She will be performing – and launching her album – with Machaca at La Linea Festival in the Purcell Room on London's South Bank on 27 April

Salón Rosado de la Tropical, Havana

The first time I asked a taxi driver to take me to Havana's Salón Rosado de la Tropical back in 1989 he said it was a place for Cubans, not foreign tourists – and certainly not lone women – and I'd better watch out as it could be rough. He'd obviously never been inside this mecca of Cuban dance music, where all the top bands play regularly, testing their latest material in front of the sexiest dancers on the island. In Cuba, most music venues are geared to tourists and too expensive for ordinary Cubans, who are often not allowed in anyway. Not so the Salón Rosado. This is the closest you can get to hanging out with a Cuban clientele. Dedicated to the memory of Beny Moré, Cuba's touchstone band leader of the 1950s, it started out life a Spanish cultural centre at the beginning of the 20th century. These days there's a balcony reserved for tourists overlooking the dance floor where, if you're lucky, you may rub shoulders with the musicians as they gather for the gig. Although today reggaeton and hip-hop dominate street tastes, Salon Rosado continues to offer a window on to the latest music scene and is a dancer's dream.
· Avenida 41 esq. 46, Nicanor del Campo, Marianao, +53 7 203 5322.
Jan Fairley has been travelling to Cuba since 1978 and is writing a book on women and music in Cuba

Liquid Room, Tokyo

Leading Japanese venue Liquid Room has been going for about 15 years and hosts weekly bands and DJs from Japan and around the world. The website may say it closes at 12, but the last time I played there, as The Orb, they didn't let us out till 6am. There's a beautiful cafe upstairs and the friendly enthusiasm of Tokyo clubbers has to be experienced to be believed. The last time I played there I took a bag of Space Dust (the sweet!) which made me very popular.
· Higashi, Shibuya-ku, Tokyo, +81 3 5464 0800, liquidroom.net.
Alex Paterson, co-founder of The Orb and HFB, his new project. HFB's first three EPs are available from 12 April on Malicious Damage Records

New Africa Shrine, Lagos, Nigeria

Lagos is not your classic tourist destination; it's a prohibitively expensive city of 14 million people and a crime record to frighten even the toughest traveller. But Nigeria's notorious capital does have one musical landmark worth going the extra mile for: the New Africa Shrine. It's named after the legendary club run by the late musical activist Fela Kuti, which was razed by soldiers. Fela's daughter Yeni and her musician brother Femi have built up a nightclub that can hold thousands and has live music throughout the week. It's not for the faint-hearted, but the Shrine is probably the safest place in Lagos: it has its own police force. You'll get a warm welcome, and hear some of the best live music in the region.
· Pepple Street, Ikeja.
Rose Skelton, music and travel journalist specialising in West Africa

• Bars and clubs
• United States
• New York
• Ireland
• World music
• Budapest
• Hungary
• Berlin
• Germany
• Lisbon
• Portugal
• Yorkshire
• Argentina
• Havana
• Cuba

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To those who fill out a quick survey.

Episodic adventure mastermind Telltale Games will give you a free episode of Strong Bad's Cool Game for Attractive People on Wii if you take a couple of minutes out of your time and fill out a short survey.

Episode 2: Strong Badia the Free will be your prize, and free copies are limited, so apply post-haste. This promotion ends when there's enough data collected, which Telltale told Eurogamer should be around 300 responses.

The data, incidentally, hopes to shed a bit more light on European customers, particularly those in the UK and Germany.

Read more...

The secret Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement has leaked again. Michael Geist has analysis below: New ACTA leaks have emerged this week that fill in the blanks about the remainder of the still-secret treaty. While earlier leaks provided extensive detail on the Internet and civil enforcement chapters, these latest leaks shed new light into the criminal enforcement section, the chapter on ACTA institutional issues, and international cooperation. The international cooperation chapter includes extensive provisions on capacity building and technical assistance. This is noteworthy since it (1) confirms the vision that developing countries will ultimately be pressured to join ACTA and (2) represents a counter to the developing country focus at WIPO. While WIPO has typically provided this assistance, the emergence of the development agenda has promoted a more balanced approach to technical assistance in developing countries. ACTA seeks to return technical assistance to an enforcement oriented approach. Translation for non-wonks: Historically, developing countries have asked the UN's World Intellectual Property Organization for "technical assistance" with their copyright laws. This has usually amounted to "Create copyright laws that will make it easier for rich countries to get richer," but in the past several of years, WIPO has found itself with a large cadre of public interest activists and now, WIPO is working on a treaty on its "Development Agenda" to figure out a copyright system that serves humanitarian goals, too (for example, by making it legal for archivists and educators to work together to translated and adapt works that have different copyright rules in different countries). We've all known that ACTA is a way of writing copyright treaties without having to let poor countries and human rights advocates into the room. We've suspected that poor countries -- who aren't invited to the negotiations -- will be strong-armed into signing onto the treate afterwards. This leak confirms our worst fears: ACTA throws out the pretence of justice, fairness, and humanitarianism present at the UN, for pure, naked, crony-capitalism. It's an instrument for allowing entrenched corporations from rich countries change the laws of other countries to their benefit -- and to the detriment of the people of those countries. It's a hijacking of the world's legislative systems by private interests, abetted by the US Trade Rep. New ACTA Leaks: Criminal Enforcement, Institutional Issues, and International Cooperation (Thanks, Michael!) Previously:Biggest-ever ACTA leak: secret copyright treaty dirty laundry ... ACTA leak: Now we know who is against transparency - USA, Korea ... EU Parliament votes 663-13 against ACTA's enforcement measures ... Danish activists demand to know why their governments block ACTA ......

Got some strange screws that need unscrewing? Want to get in there and modify some gear the manufacturer didn't trust you to open? Maybe you need to pick up the new 54 Piece Bit Driver Kit over in the Maker Shed.

This kit includes a magnetized driver with metal shaft, swivel top, and rubberized grip, a 60 mm extension, a 130 mm flexible extension, and 54 bits. By iFixit.

Features:

• # Slot sizes 1, 1.3, 1.5, 2, 2.5, 3, 3.5, 4 mm
• # Philips sizes #000, #00, #0, #1 (x2), #2
• # Spanner sizes 2, 2.2, 2.6, 3 mm
• # Torx sizes T3, T4 (x2), T5, T6 (x2), T7, T8, T9, T10, T15, T20
• # Hex sizes 0.7, 0.9, 1.3, 1.5, 2, 2.5, 3, 3.5, 4, 4.5, 5, 6 mm
• # Posidrive sizes #0, #1, #2
• # Star sizes 2, 3 mm
• # Square sizes #0, #1, #2
• # Triangle size 3 mm
• # Tri-wing sizes #0, #1
• # Drop size 1 mm

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The Jetpack project over at Mozilla Labs has been rethinking what it is to extend the browser (as has Chrome Extensions). They both move us to using Web technologies and skills rather than having to digg into XUL or C++. The project has gone through a reboot, and shed the original experiment as Jetpack Prototype.

We now have Jetpack SDK with a brand new architecture.

Two videos really show off the thinking.

Firstly, Atul Varma, tech lead for the project, talks through the update and how you go about using Jetpack SDK. There are some cool new tools revolving around developer ergonomics. These tools help with the packaging of code, developing of code, documenting code, and the management of code. The screencast below shows you how to create a module, using CommonJS at the heart of it.

The next video is from Aza and is typical Aza. It is creative. He walks through the architecture…. why the reboot happened, and what has changed, but instead of a talking head, we get Aza’s hands and pencil drawings. Oh, and he has some glasses on the top right, showing us that he has thought hard about this. :)

Exciting to seeing Jetpack come up for air again, and I can’t wait to see it quickly iterate from here. For more information check out the release notes, the FAQ, and download the SDK and write an extension.

New ACTA leaks have emerged this week that fill in the blanks about the remainder of the still-secret treaty.  While earlier leaks provided extensive detail on the Internet and civil enforcement chapters, these latest leaks shed new light into the criminal enforcement section, the chapter on ACTA institutional issues, and international cooperation.

Criminal Enforcement

As described by KEI, the European Union has proposed language to require criminal penalties for "inciting, aiding and abetting" certain offenses, including "at least in cases of willful trademark counterfeiting and copyright or related rights piracy on a commercial scale."  Willful copyright infringement includes instances that "have no direct or indirect motivation of financial gain."

Institutional Arrangements

KEI reports that the Institutional Arrangement chapter - Chapter 5 of the ACTA text - is the second longest in the treaty.  It includes the creation of an ACTA Oversight Committee that may have the power to amend the treaty itself.   The leaked text reveals the following proposal:


The new ACTA Committee shall:

• Supervise the implementation of ACTA
• Consider further "elaboration" or "development" of the agreement
• Address "disputes that may arise regarding the interpretation or application" of ACTA
• Consider any other matter that may affect the operation of this agreement.

The Committee may:

• Establish ad hoc or standing committees, working groups, experts groups, or task forces to carry out various activities.
• Seek the advice of non-government persons or groups
• make recommendations regarding the implementation of ACTA,
• provide guidelines for implementing the agreement
• identify and monitor techniques of piracy and counterfeiting
• assist non-parties in assessing the benefits of accession,
• share information on best practices
• support international organizations
• take other such actions as the parties may decide.

The Committee is expected to met regularly, as well as in special sessions. The EU wants the meetings to be normally held in Geneva.  ACTA "can extend invitations to governments who are candidates to join ACTA, to attend as observers."

ACTA will also come with its own secretariat.  KEI reports that:

The ACTA Secretariat may be provided by the country serving as the Chair, or be a permanent independent secretariat, possibly existing within another international body (such as UPOV within WIPO, or UNITAID within WHO). Korea wants the secretariat to be provided by the WTO. Morocco wants the secretariat connected to WIPO. 

International Cooperation

Chapter 3 of ACTA provides new mechanisms for international cooperation and information sharing.  The chapter includes provisions mandating law enforcement cooperation with respect to criminal investigation or prosecution as well as cooperation at the border.  The EU would like "particular attention devoted to the circulation of IPR infringing goods detrimental to health and safety."

It appears there is some disagreement between the EU and the US on the limits on the obligation to disclose confidential information.  The U.S. proposes the following limiting language:

The Parties understand that obligations under this Chapter and Chapter 4 [Enforcement Practices] are subject to the domestic laws, policies, resource allocation and law enforcement priorities of each Party.

The EU's proposed carve out is much more extensive:

Nothing in this Chapter and Chapter 4 shall require any Party to disclose confidential information which would be contrary to its laws, regulations, policies, legal practices and applicable international agreements and arrangements, including laws protecting investigative techniques, right of privacy or confidential information for law enforcement, or otherwise be contrary to the public interest, or would prejudice the legitimate commercial interests of particular enterprises, public or private.

The chapter also includes information sharing requirements including statistical data and national legislative and regulatory measures.  Morocco would like to establish an observatory as as a tool for collecting information.  Information sharing could also extend to law enforcement investigations.  While the precise language is still being negotiated, the basic approach states:

Each party shall ensure, as appropriate and mutually agreed, within the limits of national legislation, policies, practices, and applicable international agreements and arrangements, that its competent authorities have the ability to provide the competent authorities of any other Party, either on request or on its own initiative, with information concerning enforcement of intellectual property right infringements.

In other words, widespread information sharing between countries as party of any investigation.

The international cooperation chapter also includes extensive provisions on capacity building and technical assistance.  This is noteworthy since it (1) confirms the vision that developing countries will ultimately be pressured to join ACTA and (2) represents a counter to the developing country focus at WIPO.  While WIPO has typically provided this assistance, the emergence of the development agenda has promoted a more balanced approach to technical assistance in developing countries.  ACTA seeks to return technical assistance to an enforcement oriented approach.

As a starting point, ACTA states:

In order to facilitate the implementation of this Agreement or the accession thereto, Parties shall [endeavour to] provide, on request and on mutually agreed terms and conditions, assistance in capacity building and technical assistance in favour of developing country Parties to this Agreement...

Morocco has been particularly aggressive on the capacity building front, calling for a special fund to finance ACTA activities and listing many areas for technical assistance, including the promoting the culture of intellectual property.