Litigating companies Google and Oracle have mutually agreed, at the strong recommendation of the presiding judge, to refrain from researching the social media accounts of a potential jury pool before and during a high stakes copyright infringement trial.

Google and Oracle have both agreed not to research the social media accounts of the potential or actual jurors chosen to sit for the trial where up to $8.8 billion in damages is being sought. Further, the companies have agreed to the judge’s proposed ban of doing any Internet research on the potential jurors. The judge commented that the jurors’ basic right to privacy should be protected.

The Judge agreed to give the lawyers an additional 40 minutes to conduct voir dire in light of the agreement.