Coming Of Age

A few years ago a friend who worked in show biz called me, incensed.  The IMDb had started listing his age.  He even thought I might have given them the information, though I had no idea when he was born.

The main thing he wanted to know was how he could get it removed.  I told him he could ask them to take it down, but it's doubtful they would.  Otherwise, there was nothing he could do--if the information was accurate they had a legal right to put it out there.

Until now.  Governor Brown has just signed a bill that requires the IMDb to remove people's ages from their website.  The law is supported by actors' unions who believe their members are discriminated against due to their age.

I assume the IMDb and other affected by the law will challenge it in court, and I assume they will win.  It seems pretty clear the First Amendment gives them the right to publish the truth.  An actor's age is not a state secret.  If others discriminate based on this information, the IMDb can't be held responsible.

In fact, this seems so clearly unconstitutional that I wonder why politicians--who took an oath to uphold the Constitution--are wasting our time with this nonsense.  If it's repealed, will they try something else, or will they shrug and tell their constituents "hey, we tried"?