Dish Network backs Aereo in Supreme Court battle with broadcasters

Dish Network, Echostar and the American Cable Assn. are among those supporting Aereo in its showdown with broadcasters in the Supreme Court.

They were among the companies and organizations which filed briefs to the high court on Wednesday, the deadline for amicus briefs in favor of Aereo. Oral arguments in the Supreme Court are scheduled for April 22.

If Aereo is allowed to continue, broadcasters say that cable and satellite operators could merely start their own similar services and bypass having to compensate them for retransmitting station signals, in what is now a multi-billion dollar revenue stream.

Dish and Echostar argue that if the court's decision stands to have implications "far beyond Aereo" and "go so far as to touch technologies like Sling and cloud computing. It might even carry implications for a broad swatch of well-established functionality on the Internet -- for example, Internet hyperlinks or indexed thumbnails."

Dish's legal team wrote in their brief that if the high court decides to rule against Aereo, it should issue a narrow ruling.

"Even if Congress intended to prevent free riding by commercial intermediaries on the public performance right, it never intended to authorize copyright holders to charge the public repeatedly just to access their lawful copy of a work at a different time or place," Dish said in its brief.

The American Cable Assn., which represents small- and medium-sized cable operators, argued that Aereo and other new technologies provide a "modest safety valve against what smaller cable companies consider to be unfair and oppressive retransmission consent rates extracted by threat of blackouts that would leave customers with a 'dark' channel unless untoward price demands are met."

"Congress intended to encourage commercial dissemination of local broadcasts," the ACA said in its brief.

The broadcasters argue that Aereo's technology, in which subscribers receive digital streams of broadcast signals via dime-sized remote antennas, violates the public performance "transmit" clause of the Copyright Act, and in particular the intent of Congress when it was written in 1976. The U.S. Solicitor General sided with broadcasters in a friend-of-the-court brief filed last month.

Aereo contends that the streams are private performances, in that viewers are in control of what streams are delivered to their devices. The broadcasts are not live, but captured by the antennas, recorded and then transmitted to viewers after a short delay of about six seconds.

The Consumer Electronics Assn., which filed a joint brief with the Electronic Frontier Foundation, Public Knowledge and Engine Advocacy, argued that the broadcasters were seeking a "copyright expansion" to cover new, potentially disruptive technology. The organizations said that Congress in 1976 "did not foresee that TV viewers would be able to transmit signals over over a communications medium like the Internet for their own personal use."

"Copyright law has never assigned all commercially valuable uses of creative works to rightsholders; many have always been reserved to the public," the organizations said in their brief. "This creates breathing space for technological and business innovation by entrepreneurs who have no affiliation with rightsholders. As history shows, that leads in turn to new markets for creative work, increasing both rewards for authors and access to creative works in the long term."

Also siding with Aereo were the Consumers Union and the Consumer Federation of America, as well as a group of small (in some cases very small), independent broadcasters. The latter includes Block Broadcasting Co., which operates a station with familiar call letters, WKRP in Cincinnati.

(C) 2014 Variety Media, LLC, a subsidiary of Penske Business Media; Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC

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Josh Elliott on move to NBC Sports: 'Coming here was the best decision for me'

Just days after announcing hismove from ABC's "Good Morning America" to NBC Sports, Josh Elliott joined NBC Sports Group chairman Mark Lazarus for a conference call to discuss the new role.

Elliott, who spent nearly a decade working at ESPN and ABC, began by explaining that making the switch between networks was not an easy decision.

"Coming here was the best decision for me, but it was a decision that was tough to make," Elliot said. "It was bittersweet. It was made with a degree of melancholy and it was made with a heavy heart."

When asked about making the transition from on-air personality to "the last man on the bench," Elliot said being on the air every day was never something he needed.

"If a day goes by that I'm not on television, I don't look at it as a lesser day, nor do I look at changing from a news world to a sports world as any sort of step other than a step in a new direction," he explained. "The ability to join this team - to be the rookie on this team - is really what I want for myself personally."

Elliott added that no news role has been discussed with him as of yet and, when asked about the possibility of eventually succeeding "Today" anchor Matt Lauer, he said, "I hope Matt Lauer is here when I step away from this gig 30 years down the road."

While he didn't get into specifics, Elliott said he looks forward to telling stories and providing sports content across NBC's multiple platforms.

Lazarus said that Elliott will be a key player in NBC's Olympics coverage and his duties at the network will begin with the upcoming Kentucky Derby. Lazarus also mentioned that the network is in discussions about its coverage of the French Open, golf majors, the NFL's opening night and the Super Bowl, all of which would involve Elliott.

"He was a journalist, a reporter, a host, an anchor. He's done hard interviews. He's done soft interviews," Lazarus said. "You'll see a mixture of that. You'll see him hosting in some areas and interviews and reporting in other areas. ... It's still early and we're planning."

Elliott expressed confidence in his successor, Amy Robach, and said knowing she would be replacing him made his departure a bit less difficult.

Even so, Elliott hasn't been immune to the media backlash following his network move. While he said this type of reaction was probably inevitable, he also shared that it has been hard to swallow at times.

"It's been difficult to read categorical falsehood after categorical falsehood," Elliott said. "To be in the center of whatever this has been the last couple of days has been incredibly uncomfortable and, at times, very painful."

Elliott said he had no reaction to ABC News prexy Ben Sherwood's comments about their contract negotiations and credited Sherwood with taking a chance on him.

"Ben was crazy to give me a shot. He took a huge gamble," Elliott said. "He is and always will be the reason I'm here."

(C) 2014 Variety Media, LLC, a subsidiary of Penske Business Media; Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC

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Bill Hemmer re-ups with Fox News

"America's Newsroom" cohost Bill Hemmer has signed a multi-year contract to stay on with Fox News Channel, Variety has learned.

In addition to his duties surrounding the weekday morning news talk show he hosts with Martha MacCallum, Hemmer has anchored the network's 1 p.m. ET timeslot since September. He will continue in this position until a new show debuts at that hour.

"Bill Hemmer is a fantastic all-around newsman and a tremendous talent," said Roger Ailes, chairman and CEO of Fox News. "One of his great gifts is his ability to work so well with everyone -- there isn't an hour in our news lineup that Bill couldn't anchor. He's the consummate team player."

Hemmer, who joined the politically conservative-leaning 24-hour news network in 2005 after 10 years at CNN, said "There is no better boss in America than Roger Ailes. I'm proud to work for him and my wonderful, hardworking colleagues at FNC."

(C) 2014 Variety Media, LLC, a subsidiary of Penske Business Media; Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC

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World shares rise on China stimulus, US hiring

TOKYO — World stock markets were mostly higher Thursday as investors took heart from new stimulus in China and evidence of stronger U.S. hiring.

Gains were modest, however, in early European trading, as markets awaited a decision by the European Central Bank on further monetary easing.

Germany's DAX inched up 0.04 percent to 9,628.78 and Britain's FTSE 100 was 0.1 percent higher at 6,659.04. France's CAC 40 slipped 0.03 percent to 4,429.45.

Wall Street looked ready for another day of gains, with Dow Jones and S&P 500 futures both up 0.1 percent.

U.S. stocks gained for a fourth straight day Wednesday after a report on hiring reinforced confidence the economy is emerging from a winter slump.

In a further boost to market sentiment, China's State Council, or cabinet, pledged Wednesday evening to do more to support companies, expand consumer demand and create jobs. The moves include increased railway investments and an easing of controls on property dealings in some cities.

That boosted buying of shares in railways and construction-related companies and helped to push Hong Kong's Hang Seng up 0.2 percent to 22,565.08.

Tokyo's Nikkei 225 stock index rose 0.8 percent to 15,071.88, buoyed by the weaker yen and buying of automakers and machine manufacturers such as industrial robot maker Fanuc Corp.

But Shanghai's Composite Index fell 0.7 percent to 2,043.70, weighed by worries over tightening liquidity and a possible restart of initial public offerings. Blue-chip "A-shares" cannot follow the lead of upbeat global markets, said Jackson Wong, a vice president at Tanrich Securities in Hong Kong.

"They haven't rolled anything out to boost A-shares. They're still worried about IPOs. They've got their own problems," Wong said.

South Korea's Kospi gave up early gains to edge 0.2 percent lower to 1,993.70 following the release of a central bank survey outlining banks' concerns over rising household debt risks.

Elsewhere in Asia, shares rose in Singapore, New Zealand, Australia, Indonesia and the Philippines, but fell in India, Malaysia and Taiwan.

In currencies, the euro fell to $1.3764 from $1.3768 late Wednesday. The dollar rose to 103.99 yen from 103.87 yen.

Benchmark U.S. crude for May delivery was down 30 cents at $99.32 a barrel in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange. It closed Wednesday at $99.62, down 12 cents.

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Boston eyes all-star games, Final Four

In a city that celebrates sports, Mayor Martin J. Walsh is creating an office to lobby for high-profile events such as the X Games, professional all-star games and even the Final Four to come to Boston, a move that could bring in big tourism dollars.

"Boston is such a sports town, and (sports) is such a way of attracting tourists," Walsh told the Herald. "I want to use these opportunities for us to capitalize on these tourism dollars."

The Office of Sports, Entertainment and Special Events will operate under John Barros and the city's economic development department. Walsh said he is eyeing events such as the X Games and professional sports all-star games, as well as bringing hockey's Winter Classic back to Boston. Tony Nunziante, acting director of the former Arts, Tourism and Special Events office, will run the new office.

Patrick Moscaritolo, president of the Greater Boston Convention and Visitors Bureau, said sports events can have a significant impact on the economy.

"The major league events, or these huge events like the NCAA Final Four, these are the kinds of things that could really propel the city's industry forward," Moscaritolo said. "That's where you get a lot of spending impact, you get a lot of bang for your buck."

Still, landing the Final Four may be a reach. It's been held in domed football stadiums for at least 10 years, something Boston — or even New England — doesn't have. Boston hosted the Sweet Sixteen in 2012. Moscaritolo said playing host to earlier rounds of the tournament is more likely.

Walsh said a marquee event would not put a strain on the city's amenities.

"We have the hotels, we have the restaurants," Walsh said. "That's the beautiful thing, we have all the infrastructure."

The U.S. Figure Skating Championship was held in Boston in January, and Walsh said attending that event sparked the idea for the sports-focused office.

Next year, the Frozen Four — the NCAA men's hockey tournament — will be held at TD Garden.

Moscaritolo, who has led bids for the Frozen Four and the Women's Final Four, said a focused city office will give the Hub an edge with the leagues and organizations evaluating cities for their high-profile events.

"You rise to the top," Moscaritolo said. "This is a broad, citywide effort that has the mayor's stamp of approval.

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Gaming panel to play hand on host status for Boston

The state Gaming Commission is forging ahead with its plan to rule on whether Boston is a host community to casinos in Revere and Everett after Hub lawyers argued the gaming panel does not have legal standing to make the determination.

"We will proceed with the hearing," commission spokeswoman Elaine Driscoll told the Herald yesterday. "As we have stated previously, the commission has statutory authority to make this decision, and we look forward to resolving this matter quickly."

The commission will discuss a date for the adjudicatory hearing tomorrow, and is sticking with a goal of awarding a casino license in June to either Mohegan Sun's Revere proposal or Wynn Resorts' Everett plan.

Driscoll said the commission has been facilitating information-sharing between the applicants and Boston and hopes to hold a hearing "where everybody will feel like they're prepared with the information that's necessary to support their position."

In a March 25 letter to the commission, city attorney Thomas Frongillo questioned whether the commission had jurisdiction to decide if Boston is a host community. The city is still not entirely on the same page with the commission, asking in a letter Monday for details on tomorrow's discussion, which the commission had said in another letter would include discussion of Boston's status.

"The city requests that the commission provide a more detailed explanation of these statements, which will enable the city to move forward in a thoughtful and productive manner on behalf of its residents including protecting their right to vote," reads the letter by city lawyer Elizabeth Dello Russo.

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World stocks rise on US data, Japan stimulus hopes

MUMBAI, India — World stock markets pushed higher Wednesday on signs of a pickup in the U.S. economy and expectations of further stimulus in Japan.

Tokyo's Nikkei 225 led the gains, rising 1 percent to 14,946.32 after a weak outlook for companies raised hopes the Bank of Japan would launch additional monetary stimulus in coming months.

Hong Kong's Hang Seng was up 0.3 percent at 22,523.94 and South Korea's Kospi edged 0.3 percent higher to 1,997.25.

In China, the Shanghai Composite rose 0.6 percent to 2,155.70 as investors continued to shrug off two reports that signaled weakness in manufacturing. Sydney's S&P/ASX 200 was up 0.3 percent to 5,403.30. Indian stocks extended a rally ahead of elections set to start next week, with the Sensex rising 0.4 percent to 22,542.55.

Markets have been optimistic since Federal Reserve chief Janet Yellen vowed to keep interest rates low and a survey showed an improvement in U.S. manufacturing activity, with the news apparently outweighing China's weak manufacturing reports.

"If sentiment is a key component in driving price around, I should think these markets can continue higher," Chris Weston, IG's chief strategist said in a market commentary.

European markets opened with modest gains Wednesday as investors waited for a private payrolls report in the U.S. that could indicate the strength of job creation.

Germany's DAX was up 0.3 percent to 9,628.50 and Britain's FTSE 100 edged 0.1 percent higher to 6,655.94. France's CAC 40 gained 0.1 percent at 4,428.78.

Futures augured gains on Wall Street. Dow futures were up 0.2 percent at 16,480. S&P 500 futures added 0.2 percent to 1,880.90.

In currencies, the euro fell to $1.37935 from $1.3806 late Wednesday. The dollar was up to 103.81 yen from 103.64.

Benchmark U.S. crude for May delivery was down 6 cents at $99.68 a barrel in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange. The contract sank $1.84 to close at $99.74 on Tuesday.

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Under fire: GM's Barra deflects hard questions

WASHINGTON — General Motors CEO Mary Barra didn't squirm on the hot seat Tuesday. On the job less than three months, she calmly answered or deflected tough questions from a congressional committee about faulty parts responsible for at least 13 deaths and the recall of 2.6 million cars.

Barra frustrated lawmakers by fending off questions, saying she was awaiting the results of an internal GM investigation. She didn't know why GM waited more than a decade to recall cars it knew had defective ignition switches. She didn't know who was responsible for the decisions that delayed the recall.

But experts on corporate damage control said she didn't have much choice and gave her high marks for her performance on the hot seat.

"Barra's rope-a-dope is the best of GM's bad options today," said Washington crisis management consultant Eric Dezenhall. "There isn't a corporate lawyer in the country that's going to allow her to engage in freelance speculation about things she doesn't know yet. No, that's not satisfying to the public and media, but the alternative is much worse."

Investors shrugged. General Motors Co. stock, down more than 7 percent since March 11, barely budged Tuesday, slipping 8 cents to $34.34.

Barra apologized for GM's slowness in warning customers about the problems and promised to change the automaker's culture to put a new emphasis on safety. "Barra held her ground, claiming that today's General Motors is a different company from the one whose corporate culture allowed this issue to fester for a decade," said Jack Nerad, executive editorial director Kelley Blue Book.

Ken and Jayne Rimer, whose daughter died in a 2006 accident after a faulty switch prevented airbags from deploying, found Barra's testimony incomplete. For Barra "not to have any answers" after about three months as CEO was unsatisfactory, Ken Rimer said in the hallway outside the hearing room. "It surprised me how unprofessional that was," he said.

Congressional appearances can be a minefield for CEOs. In 2008, automaker CEOS drew public scorn for flying corporate jets to Washington to ask for a government bailout. And Wall Street CEOs were battered in hearings after the financial crisis.

But some lawmakers appeared somewhat more sympathetic to Barra, who was thrust into a crisis after becoming the first woman CEO of a major automaker in January. In 33 years at GM, Barra worked in engineering, communications and human resources. She's a second-generation GM employee: Her father was a GM die maker for four decades.

Not everything went smoothly for the new CEO Tuesday, who flew commercial to the hearing. Barra struggled to explain how GM could continue to use parts that didn't meet its own specifications. When she tried to draw a distinction between parts that didn't meet specs and those that were defective and dangerous, Rep. Joe Barton, R-Texas, said: "What you just answered is gobbledygook."

Dan Hill, president of a Washington firm that advises clients on public relations and crisis management, said Barra erred by contrasting today's safety-conscious GM with the belt-tightening GM that sought bankruptcy protection in 2009. "Barra threw the old GM under the bus by saying that the previous company that she grew up in and held executive positions in was based on a 'cost culture' as opposed to a 'customer first' culture," Hill said, noting that the implicit criticism of her predecessors could be used as ammunition in lawsuits against GM.

But some corporate image experts praised Barra for seizing the initiative by announcing that GM has hired Kenneth Feinberg — who handled the fund for the victims of 9/11, the Boston Marathon bombing and the BP oil spill — to explore ways to compensate victims of accidents in the GM cars. Barra didn't commit GM to setting up such a fund.

"She didn't make mistakes," says Gene Grabowski, a crisis management consultant who helps executives prepare for congressional testimony. "That's how you survive a hearing."

_____

Durbin reported from Detroit. AP Business Writer Marcy Gordon in Washington contributed to this story.

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Syrup-makers go high-tech with wireless monitoring

MILTON, Vt. — Maple syrup production has come a long way from metal buckets hung on trees, but even high-tech operations have had to rely on old-fashioned foot patrols to fix a common problem — leaks.

The tubes that draw sap from trees straight to sugar houses often get pulled down or bent by falling limbs or chewed by critters, meaning sugar-makers spend hours and sometimes days stomping through snowy woods to find and fix problems — a big time-waster in a sugaring season that lasts just a few weeks.

But now sugar-makers are harnessing new technology to keep the precious sap flowing.

Meadowbrook Maple Syrup in January installed a monitoring system that is already paying off. Designed to help mid-to-large scale syrup producers keep an electronic eye their sap vacuum lines, the Tap Track system consists of solar battery-powered radio units strapped to trees, with each unit monitoring the pressure on a half-dozen lines. The data is transmitted to a computer or smartphone, where it shows up as a map with green dots indicating lines with good sap flow and red dots indicating leaks. Users can even get text messages alerting them to problems.

"I think it's the thing of the future. I really do," owner Donnie Richards said.

In the past, Richards and his crew would have to walk the woods of Milton listening and looking for leaks, which was time-consuming.

"And if you didn't find the leak that day, you didn't get sap off that part of the woods all day long," he said.

Now he uses his iPhone to check the system and can immediately see a leak and when it is repaired.

Richards' operation includes about 5,000 taps, with about 18 miles of tubing spread out over more than 100 acres. The new system costs $1 to $2 per tap, but inventor Jason Gagne said the return on investment can be seen in one season. He said the test site of 20,000 taps in Ontario resulted in a more than 5 percent increase in sap collection, or an extra $15,000.

Gagne, who used to spend days on end patrolling his own sugar bush in Swanton, came up with the idea several years ago, teaming up with Canadian sugar-maker Doug Thompson to develop the product.

The University of Vermont's Proctor Maple Research Center is using a similar remote monitoring system for the first time this season, as the technology becomes more commercially available. Smartrek, produced by a Quebec-based company, also monitors sap lines for leaks and provides the information immediately on a smartphone or tablet.

Nationally, maple syrup production totaled 3.25 million gallons last year. Vermont led with 1.3 million gallons, followed by New York, Maine, Wisconsin, Ohio, Michigan, Pennsylvania, New Hampshire, Massachusetts and Connecticut. Each of those gallons of syrup required sugar-makers to collect 40 gallons of sap.

It takes warm days and cold nights for sap to flow, so the conditions are just right for syrup-making for only about 4 to 6 weeks. And cold weather has already pushed back Vermont's season this year. But Proctor researchers expect the new system to make their operation more efficient and productive. It will also give sugar-makers, who are prone to staying up late to boil sap down to syrup, a few extra hours of sleep, said Brian Stowe, Proctor's sugaring operations manager.

"We find that a lot of sugar-makers get sleep deprived during the season, this again they can take a quick look from their house and then they can go to bed and get some good sleep and not have to worry," Stowe said.

The ideal system would have a sensor at the end of each of the main lines. But that can be expensive for some sugar-makers — about $200 per Smartrek vacuum sensor and $400 for a tank level sensor — so some sugar-makers may start with a smaller number depending on what they want to monitor.

"Whether it's mine or Tap Track of any of the other systems, the technology is fantastic," said Eric Sorkin, of Thunder Basin Maple Works in Cambridge, who was so impressed with Smartrek that he became a distributor.

In the past, Sorkin said, the only way to increase production was to make sure sap is flowing in the system, and that meant lots of man-hours checking each line.

"With these remote monitoring systems, we can effectively lower our labor costs and increase our production," he said.

Gagne described an incident last year when his system showed a leak where a porcupine had cut the line. Just as workers had repaired the break, Tap Track showed another leak.

"You could follow the porcupine prints right to the next line where he'd cut it," he said. "Otherwise, it would have been a few more days before we found those two lines."

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AP sources: Health law sign-ups on track to hit 7M

WASHINGTON — Beating expectations, President Barack Obama's health care overhaul was on track to sign up more than 7 million Americans for health insurance on deadline day Monday, government officials told The Associated Press.

The 7 million target, thought to be out of reach by most experts, was in sight on a day that saw surging consumer interest as well as vexing computer glitches that slowed sign-ups on the HealthCare.gov website.

Two government officials confirmed the milestone, speaking on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to discuss the matter ahead of an official announcement.

Seven million was the original target set by the Congressional Budget Office for enrollment in taxpayer-subsidized private health insurance through new online markets created under Obama's signature legislation.

That was scaled back to 6 million after the disastrous launch of HealthCare.gov last fall. Several state-run websites also had crippling problems.

Americans who rushed to apply for health insurance Monday faced long, frustrating waits and a new spate of website ills on deadline day.

"This is like trying to find a parking spot at Wal-Mart on Dec. 23," said Jason Stevenson, working with a Utah nonprofit group helping people enroll.

At times, more than 125,000 people were simultaneously using HealthCare.gov, straining it beyond its capacity. For long stretches Monday, applicants were shuttled to a virtual waiting room where they could leave an email address and be contacted later.

Officials said the site had not crashed but was experiencing very heavy volume. The website, which was receiving 1.5 million visitors a day last week, had recorded about 2 million through 3 p.m. EDT. Call centers have more than 840,000 calls.

Supporters of the health care law fanned out across the country in a final dash to sign up uninsured Americans. People not signed up for health insurance by the deadline, either through their jobs or on their own, were subject to being fined by the IRS, and that threat was helping drive the final dash.

The administration announced last week that people still in line by midnight would get extra time to enroll.

The website stumbled early in the day — out of service for nearly four hours as technicians patched a software bug. Another hiccup in early afternoon temporarily kept new applicants from signing up, and then things slowed further. Overwhelmed by computer problems when launched last fall, the system has been working much better in recent months, but independent testers say it still runs slowly.

At Chicago's Norwegian American Hospital, people began lining up shortly after 7 a.m. to get help signing up for subsidized private health insurance.

Lucy Martinez, an unemployed single mother of two boys, said she'd previously tried to enroll at a clinic in another part of the city but there was always a problem. She'd wait and wait and they wouldn't call her name, or they would ask her for paperwork that she was told earlier she didn't need, she said. Her diabetic mother would start sweating so they'd have to leave.

She's heard "that this would be better here," said Martinez, adding that her mother successfully signed up Sunday at a different location.

At St. Francis Hospital in Wilmington, Del., enrollment counselor Hubert Worthen plunged into a long day. "I got my energy drink," he said. "This is epic, man."

At a Houston community center, there were immigrants from Ethiopia, Nepal, Eritrea, Somalia, Iraq, Iran and other conflict-torn areas, many of them trying anew after failing to complete applications previously. In addition to needing help with the actual enrollment, they needed to wait for interpreters. Many had taken a day off from work, hoping to meet the deadline.

The White House and other supporters of the law were hoping for an enrollment surge that would confound skeptics.

The insurance markets — or exchanges — offer subsidized private health insurance to people who don't have access to coverage through their jobs. The federal government is taking the lead in 36 states, while 14 other states plus Washington, D.C., are running their own enrollment websites.

New York, running its own site, reported more than 812,000 had signed up by Sunday morning, nearly 100,000 of them last week.

However, it's unclear what those numbers may mean.

The administration hasn't said how many of the 6 million people nationally who had signed up before the weekend ultimately closed the deal by paying their first month's premiums. Also unknown is how many were previously uninsured — the real test of Obama's health care overhaul. In addition, the law expands coverage for low-income people through Medicaid, but only about half the states have agreed to implement that option.

Cheering on the deadline-day sign-up effort, Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius planned to spend much of the day Monday working out of the department's TV studio, conducting interviews by satellite with stations around the country.

Though March 31 was the last day officially to sign up, millions of people are potentially eligible for extensions granted by the administration.

Those include people who had begun enrolling by the deadline but didn't finish, perhaps because of errors, missing information or website glitches. The government says it will accept paper applications until April 7 and take as much time as necessary to handle unfinished cases on HealthCare.gov. Rules may vary in states running their own insurance marketplaces.

The administration is also offering special extensions to make up for all sorts of problems that might have kept people from getting enrolled on time: Natural disasters. Domestic abuse. Website malfunctions. Errors by insurance companies. Mistakes by application counselors.

To seek a special enrollment period, contact the federal call center, at 1-800-318-2596, or the state marketplace and explain what happened. It's on the honor system. If the extension is approved, that brings another 60 days to enroll.

Those who still don't get health insurance run the risk that the Internal Revenue Service will fine them next year for remaining uninsured. It remains to be seen how aggressively the penalties called for in the law are enforced.

Also, the new markets don't have a monopoly on health insurance. People not already covered by an employer or a government program can comply with the insurance mandate by buying a policy directly from an insurer. They'll just have to pay the full premium themselves, although in a few states there may be an exception to that rule as well.

Supporters of the law held their breath early Monday when the website was taken down.

In Oakton, Va., enrollment counselor Rachel Klein said she noticed the website was running slowly.

"We all came into it understanding that today was going to be challenging," said Klein. "We're all relieved that there's going to be a little extra time for people."

House Speaker John Boehner of Ohio said Monday that Republicans remain committed to repealing Obama's law.

___

Associated Press writers Connie Cass in Washington, Don Babwin in Chicago, Randall Chase in Wilmington, Del., Ramit Plushnick-Masti in Houston, Michelle Price in Salt Lake City and Carolyn Thompson in Buffalo, N.Y., contributed to this report.

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