LOS ANGELES — Tony Lynn, the former president of Playboy Enterprises Inc., died Saturday after a brief battle with cancer. He was 66.
During his tenure, Lynn established 25 joint ventures for Playboy-branded channels in more than 100 countries between 1992-2000. During the time, he presided over tenfold increases in revenue at the adult company.
Lynn was the only witness for Playboy in its First Amendment challenge to the Telecommunications Act of 1996.
Playboy won its challenge at the U.S. Supreme Court, establishing a free speech precedent that struck down Section 505 of the law, which required that cable TV operators scramble or block channels that are "primarily dedicated to sexually oriented programming" from 10 p.m. to 6 a.m.
U.S. justices concluded that because of the existence of alternatives, like subscribers requesting a channel block, the overly restrictive Section 505 violated the First Amendment.
One justice, Clarence Thomas, noted in his concurrence that he would have decided the case differently if the broadcasts were of obscene material. He posited that the government had merely argued that the broadcasts were indecent.
Lynn also worked at MGM, HBO and Showtime in executive positions and most recently served as a producer and consultant.
According to Deadline, a memorial service is planned for Jan. 26 on the Paramount Studios lot in Hollywood, Calif.
