December 20, 1999
Web posted at: 5:31 p.m. EST (2231 GMT)

By D. Ian Hopper
CNN Interactive Technology Editor

(CNN) -- New Yorker Scott Posner ordered a WebTV Plus system for about $300 as a gift. Instead, he received a unit valued at up to $1 million, and his father got a visit from the New York Police Department for his trouble.

According to a Microsoft spokesperson, on Thursday a WebTV Plus unit "tweaked for engineering" at a Mountain View, California facility and intended for the company's Redmond headquarters was instead sent to Posner in New York. The Redmond shipping label was covered over with a label sending it to Posner.

After discovering it was missing, Microsoft contacted the Mountain View police department. Mountain View police then contacted the NYPD, which picked up the unit at the home of Posner's father. It was then returned to Microsoft.

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Both Microsoft and police sources declined to say if the relabeling was intentional. They did say that an investigation is ongoing.

NYPD police spokesman Lt. Cory Cuneo said no arrests have been made in New York, but Mountain View police are investigating.

The detective with the high-tech task force in Santa Clara County, California was unavailable for comment, but spokesman Jim Bennett said the Mountain View police have no suspects at this point.

"How it got sent to [New York] is foremost in the investigation," said Bennett.

According to the Bennett, Microsoft informed the police that the unit was worth up to $1 million.

"There's a value for that proprietary information, if you know what to do with it," said Bennett.

Microsoft played down the value of the unit, but a spokesperson said the NYPD was "quite helpful" in locating the box.

"It's hard to place a value on intellectual property," said Microsoft spokesperson Angela Yearta. The product "could be worth a lot of money to someone else that produces it."

Posner could not be reached for comment.

The WebTV unit allows users to view enhanced television content, Web pages and send e-mail through a television set.

Microsoft acquired WebTV Networks in April 1997 for approximately $425 million.

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