NZ archery rep caught up in piracy suit

High-rise buildings of the Burbank Media District. Photo / iStock

An Auckland-based archery sharp shooter felt the might of Hollywood movie moguls who laid a lawsuit against his alleged involvement in a piracy site.

Fairfax reported the suit was laid against Yiftach Swery, a New Zealand archery rep since 2008, in the High Court at Auckland last October.

Mr Swery, 23, works as a web and app developer and it was reported he started popular piracy website YIFY Torrents when he studied computer science at the University of Waikato.

The suit named Warner Brothers, 20th Century Fox, Disney, Paramount Pictures, Universal City Studios and Columbia Pictures as being parties to the civil claim, which Fairfax understood was settled out of court later last year.

Mr Swery signed a non-disclosure agreement with the movie moguls and the High Court sealed the court file.

It was reported Mr Swery was operating an illegal downloading site that had millions of visitors every month.

The matter was not investigated by police.

The World Archery website says Mr Swery's global ranking in the sport is 648.

In 2008, he set a world junior record.