The general rules governing the use of commercial and non-commercial drones are still in flux, but one major rule is reportedly set to be enacted soon: legal registration.

In much the same way as you might register an automobile, the U.S. Department of Transportation (DoT) is set to lay down rules that require all drone owners to register their devices with the government.

See also: California bans paparazzi from using drones to spy on celebrity homes

The agency has not made an official announcement regarding such a program, but a report from NBC News on Friday claims that the rule is set to take effect in the near future.

According to the report, drone owners would be required to register their devices with the DoT in a new program that would be launched by the Christmas holiday, right around the time a large number of drones will likely make their way into the skies as Christmas presents.

However, even if such a registration program does take effect, another concern revolves around the issue of how millions of existing drone devices will be registered under the new program.

"DoT's creation of a national drone registry demonstrates how dangerous drones may be to aircrafts, and to security and privacy," Jörg Lamprecht, founder of Dedrone, a Germany-based company focused on early-warning and detection of professional and civilian drones, told Mashable in an emailed statement. "The challenge lies in the fact that, unless the registry is also made retroactive, millions of unregistered drones will still be available for sale on the Internet and black markets."

To that point, another report from the Wall Street Journal claims that a task force will meet next week to decide how to handle the issue of existing unregistered drones as well as what kind of drone devices will be included under the new law.

Although some may view the legal registration of amateur drones as over-regulation by the government, the fact is that recent, dangerous incidents at airports involving drones has prompted calls for tighter controls around the use of drones in U.S. skies. Registering drones would also make everything from paparazzi drones to corporate espionage drones traceable to an owner.

Details regarding the new registration law are still murky at this point, but the DoT has said that it will release specific details regarding the program on Monday.