The net neutrality rules might not be available for weeks. That's ridiculous.

[Commentary] The Federal Communications Commission has established America's strongest network neutrality rules to date. The document, which reportedly weighed in at more than 300 pages, will transform how the nation's broadband services are regulated. But if you want to read it, you'll need to wait a few days. Or maybe weeks. That's ridiculous.

It's true that there's nothing unusual about the delay. Administrative agencies often keep drafts of their rules secret while they're working on them, and it's not uncommon for it to take a few weeks for rules to be published. The delay certainly isn't evidence that anything sinister is going on. But the FCC's secretive approach during rule drafting forces media to report on summaries, spin, and snippets. The result is less accurate and less comprehensive coverage. Meanwhile, the lack of transparency gives disproportionate influence to big players who can leverage their connections to insiders to find out what's really going on.

The FCC isn't alone. It and other government agencies can and should be more transparent. Publishing draft rules before they're voted on, and publishing final rules as soon as they're approved, will make it easier for voters to understand and influence the process, for the media to provide accurate and comprehensive coverage. It will also curb the unfair advantages of special interests.