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Since June 2008, the Motion Picture Association of America (“MPAA”) has moved forward with a petition to the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) for the right to use selectable output control (SOC).  This practice involves disabling the analog or digital portions of a video stream to the consumer.  The MPAA claims using SOC would allow them to offer pre-DVD releases direct to the consumer while still protecting its copyright.

The problem is that the SOC could leave some current home entertainment technology disabled, particularly those that don’t have digital inputs.  Estimates of just how many households would be affected range from 11 to 20 million.  Right now, the MPAA is taking up the issue of these estimates with the FCC.  It argues that there is a lack of a verifiable source for the estimate and that it is overinclusive of households that own both older and newer TV sets.

Read: [Ars Technica]