400-page net neutrality order includes 80 pages of Republican dissents

The Federal Communications Commission voted on February 26 to reclassify broadband as a common carrier service and enforce net neutrality rules, but the commission's entire ruling didn't become public until this morning.

Now you can read the entire ruling, all 400 pages of it, including the dissents from Republican commissioners. That includes a 64-page dissent from Ajit Pai and 16 pages from Michael O'Reilly. We'll be reading it ourselves for potential followup articles.

Republicans on the commission and in Congress had urged FCC Chairman Tom Wheeler to make the rules public before the vote, but the commission adhered to past practice by not releasing them until the final touches were ready. Wheeler explained on the day of the vote that the majority was required to include the minority's dissents and "be responsive to those dissents" in order to make the ruling complete.

The process took longer than the last time the FCC issued net neutrality rules in 2010; there was just a two-day gap in that case. Those rules were largely thrown out in court after a Verizon challenge, forcing the FCC to start over.

There are still some more steps before broadband providers can start filing lawsuits. Opponents can get the court process rolling once the rules are published in the Federal Register. FCC expert Harold Feld, the senior VP of advocacy group Public Knowledge, notes that the FCC cannot control the publication date, but he thinks that will happen in seven to 10 days. He has an extensive breakdown of the process here.

The rules do not actually go into effect until 60 days after publication in the Federal Register. There's one exception to that, as new network management disclosure requirements for Internet providers require an additional approval by the Office of Management and Budget to comply with the Paperwork Reduction Act.