Héctor Ramos

You can use a proxy that sets your IP as the United States, and you can still use the "Watch Instantly" service.

However, that is just a trick to get around it, and you will probably have to pay an additional service fee for a reliable proxy.

This is just one of many of the "perks" of living in Puerto Rico.

Last Update from Netflix:
It seems Netflix is done with my questions. I am publishing my last letter from them, and my response. Sorry Puerto Rico, you either going to have to suck it up or cancel your subscription. I honestly think you should do the latter, canel your account although I dont think that will help as much as just calling their offices or emailing them. I’d sue them honestly…
Dear Mr. Badr:
You are correct, DC is not historically a state. They do still have instant watching functionality. Please note that we do not control who does or does not receive this functionality. Unfortunately, I cannot comment specifically as to why they are included while some territories are not.
Our licensing limitations are a proprietary agreement and I cannot divulge any further information than what I have already provided to you.
Please know that we’re always looking to improve our service, and its features. We look to a time when all of our customers can enjoy all of our offerings. If and when that time comes, I will reach out to you directly to let you know.
Best,
Kristy Grey\Netflix, Inc
Frankly I think they didnt like me telling them that if Obama doesn’t get his Netflix streamed to the White House, there would be problems in Netflix with the Federal Government.
My response:

Kristy;

No problem. I appreciate what you have divulged already. Bottom line people in Puerto Rico have to suck it up once more. This will never change for us, until we become a state.

I appreciate your responses, frankly I was surprised you were able to talk so much about the topic before getting yanked in the chain. I will be relaying this info to the people in my blog and the rest of the news papers in puerto rico covering this situation. I wont be bothering you anymore with questions. It is clear that Netflix wont do anything on behalf of Puerto Rico and their customers.

I had a good conversation with a couple of Lawyers that cover copyright, FCC, and movie distribution into Puerto Rico and the US. They said, that Puerto Rico is sanctioned under Federal Law, to enjoy any priviledges the United States of America has. Meaning that if a movie is streamed, sold or rented in any of the 50 States including the Disctrict of Columbia, it had rights approving its distribution, digitally, sales or rent in Puerto Rico without any restriction or condition.

They also explained that if a movie was prohibited in the 50 States or the District of Columbia, then it would also be restricted in Puerto Rico under the same laws without exception.

This is greatly explained in detail under the Distribution Law and the Puerto Rico Regulation of Fair Competition No. VI - January 21, 1980:

“For new enterprising companies wishing to include Puerto Rico into their venues, the safest option is to draft a detailed and precise contract that includes alternative dispute resolution options, limitations of jurisdiction and clauses which reserve the right to sell their products on a non-exclusive relationship.

Otherwise, they run the risk of facing several years of costly litigation, and seeing how a fruitful consumer market such as Puerto Rico turns into a sour venture for everyone involved.”

This means that if Puerto Rican customers of yours that lived in Puerto Rico, and were affected by the Decision of Netflix not transmitting the streaming service (that is free for paying customers, but not free to everyone else), and they made a Class Action Suite against Netflix for discrimmination. I’m afraid Netflix would loose. This would be more costly to you guys than just streaming the content to Puerto Rican’s.

Eitherway I appreciate you took time to answer my questions and give me a better perspective on how Netflix operates in terms of what they choose to offer to the US, its states, territories and the Disctric of Columbia (although there was no explanation why DC gets it or not).

Although I also understand that the streaming services are delivered “as is” meaning its not a service you guarantee to your customers to have.

Badr
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With this I conclude my investigation on Netflix vs. Puerto Rico. My conclusion on this is that as the Netflix End User Agreement clearly states that Netflix is not obligued to offer their streaming service to anyone regardless they are on the 50 states or the exclusive District of Columbia because the “streaming service” is not a part of their services. Its a “free” ad-on for their paying customers, but if it doesnt work in your area of residence, its basically not their fault.
As you saw, Netflix is not giving away the specific reasons, as why they can offer streaming in the Nation’s capital (Washington DC, which is confirmed by Netflix that it is not a State) but not on the US Territories like Puerto Rico or the Virgin Islands. I keep thinking that my assumption, that if the President of the United States doesnt receive his streaming into his TV, then Netflix would not exist. What Puerto Rico has to do is show the President of the United States, how much cheaper it would be for them to relocate the White House to Puerto Rico and this will solve ALL of the problems in the Island plus save a couple of billions to the US Government.