There’s already a conspiracy theory brewing over net neutrality

It's been less than 24 hours since the Federal Communications Commission voted to approve strict new regulations on Internet providers, but here’s the leading question coming from its critics – “Why won't they release the rules?!?!” Conservatives are demanding that the FCC release a full copy of the regulations that it's planning to impose on companies such as Comcast and Verizon -- and taking the agency's silence as evidence of a cover-up.

Let's stop this nonsense right here. It's a stretch to think the FCC is withholding anything. While it was certainly within FCC Chairman Tom Wheeler's power to release his draft proposal before it came to a vote, the regulations now must go through a formal process before they become official. And say what you will about bureaucratic inefficiency, but that's the chief reason the FCC won't be releasing the rules for some time. It's easy to see how all this "secrecy" could be confusing. Once a vote takes place and the gavel drops, shouldn't that be the moment when the world changes? After all, it's more or less how elections work, right?

Well, rulemaking is a little bit different.