Yeah, it's real. See
http://www.math.sunysb.edu/~dougal/phpBB2/viewtopic.php?t=20
If you want to do it, though, there's an easier way than just looking
around haphazardly for your 5 referrals--use a conga line. The idea
behind a conga line is that you sign up under the top person. When he
gets his 5 referrals, he moves off the list, and the next person is up.
When you sign up, you go to the bottom of the list. That way, it's more
organized, and thus both faster and easier than just looking for
friends to do it (of course, you can get friends to sing up straight
under you, rather than joining the conga line, speeding it up slightly
for those you can get).
A good conga line to join is http://freeipods.co.nr. It's small, but
growing fast -- meaning you'll get your iPod quicker than on those huge
congas.