Movie studios will reportedly have to wait until next year to see if they will be able to block the analog transmission of high-definition movies on TV.

Federal Communications Commission Chairman Kevin Martin told reporters Tuesday that the agency will not likely address the "selectable output control" (SOC) issue before President-elect Obama takes office next month.

SOC lets copyright owners - namely the Motion Picture Association of America (MPAA) in this case - tell cable and satellite stations to block the transmission of selected programs to certain devices like TiVos, Slingboxes, or TVs without digital input.

Worried that SOC might impede the proliferation of HD programming, the FCC banned it in 2003, but the commission announced in June that it would reconsider the issue.

Why does the MPAA want SOC?

Basically, movie studios want the option to broadcast their movies (for a price) in HD on television prior to their DVD release. Cable and satellite typically broadcast in analog and digital, but the MPAA claims that analog transmissions are less secure and open to piracy, so they want to broadcast only in digital.

Critics, however, are concerned that this might allow the MPAA to block access to other devices and perhaps prevent you from recording these movies via your DVR.

"The MPAA's request is so vaguely written that it would allow them to turn off all the other plugs on your cable box," according to interest group Public Knowledge. "Then, you would have to buy a new TV with an 'MPAA-approved' output plug if you want to watch on-demand movies before they come out on DVD."

Public Knowledge said Tuesday that it was pleased that SOC will not be addressed. "That petition was yet another attempt by Hollywood to inflict its technological control on consumers, similar to the ill-fated 'broadcast flag,'" president and co-founder Gigi Sohn said in a statement. "Consumers, not movie companies, should control their own set-top boxes and not be subject to the whims of Hollywood business plans."

If SOC proceeds, it could disable 20 million HDTVs, according to the Consumer Electronics Association (CEA). "If Hollywood's request is granted, the studios can unilaterally shut off television connections which they deem ''insecure', preventing viewers from accessing content," according to CEA.

The MPAA denied that its plans will disable 20 million sets.

"The MPAA does not deny that some high-definition television sets may not be capable of receiving these new service offerings, however, that does not mean these television sets would 'no longer function as they did when originally purchased' as CEA maintains," the MPAA wrote in a November letter to the FCC. "In fact, television sets without secure digital interfaces will function exactly as they do today and consumers will see absolutely no difference in any of their existing services."

The FCC will meet again on January 15, its final meeting prior to Obama's inauguration. Currently, the only scheduled agenda item is a vote on the "analog nightlight" plan.

The president-elect is expected to name a new chairman to the FCC, though Martin could stay on as a commissioner. Republican Commissioner Deborah Taylor Tate, who has served since 2006, will leave her post next month.