VolleyHut.com is an online retailer of volleyball

Volleyball

Volleyball is a team sport in which two teams of six players are separated by a net. Each team tries to score points by grounding a ball on the other team's court under organized rules.The complete rules are extensive...

 products. In 2000, VolleyHut was among several companies that protested strongly against Amazon.com's patent relating to affiliate programs. Company owner Charlie Jackson

Charlie Jackson (software)

Charlie Jackson is a computer software entrepreneur who founded Silicon Beach Software in 1984 and co-founded FutureWave Software in 1993. FutureWave created the first version of what is now Adobe Flash. He was an early investor in Wired magazine, Outpost.com, Streamload and Angelic...

 challenged Amazon.com, saying "I have a small e-commerce site, VolleyHut.com, that sells volleyball equipment. I have an affiliate relationship with Volleycentral.com. I will continue to maintain the affiliate program, despite your patent. The reason is that I know you will not try to actually stop me, because your patent will not hold up in court if I decide to fight it, which I would. So, now you have been notified that someone is violating your patent. What are you going to do about it?" Amazon.com took no action against VolleyHut.

Established in 1999, VolleyHut is based in Poway

Poway, California

Poway is a city in San Diego County, California. Originally an unincorporated community in San Diego County, Poway officially became a city in December 1980. Even though Poway lies geographically in the middle of San Diego County, most consider its relative location as north county inland...

, California

California

California is a state located on the West Coast of the United States. It is by far the most populous U.S. state, and the third-largest by land area...

 and owned by Charlie Jackson.

Jackson was an early Macintosh software publisher who founded Silicon Beach Software

Silicon Beach Software

Silicon Beach Software was an early developer of software products for the Macintosh personal computer. It was founded in San Diego, California by Charlie Jackson and his wife Hallie. Jackson later co-founded FutureWave Software with Jonathan Gay, the company that produced the first version of...

 and co-founded FutureWave Software

FutureWave Software

FutureWave Software was a software developer and publisher based in San Diego, California. The company was founded by Charlie Jackson and Jonathan Gay in early 1993. VP of Marketing was Michelle Welsh who also came from Silicon Beach Software, then Aldus....

, which created the original version of what is now Adobe Flash

Adobe Flash

Adobe Flash is a multimedia platform used to add animation, video, and interactivity to web pages. Flash is frequently used for advertisements, games and flash animations for broadcast...

.

VolleyHut established the Beach Volleyball Junior Olympics as a stand-alone event, hosting it in 1999 in San Diego. http://www.usavolleyball.org/Beach/Archive/99beachjo.asp Previously, the Beach Volleyball Junior Olympics had been held in conjunction with a pro beach volleyball event.

From 2000 to 2007, VolleyHut has also assisted U.S. women players by sponsoring a team in the under-20 International Tournament held each year in Sibillini, Italy. http://volleyball.about.com/library/weekly/aa000711.htm http://www.bringitusa.com/events/sibillini_2007/roster.php