Xbox Live friend referral program is ... live

Any good army isn't just staffed with believers of the cause. The easily-persuaded friends of those believers make up a crucial portion of every respectable army on the planet -- just ask Cobra Commander. That dude knows how to grease the wheels.

Microsoft understands this and has accordingly launched a "Refer-a-Friend" program of its own for Xbox Live, sans elaborate turkey dinner banquets. Referring friends (by Gamertag), can net existing Gold members tokens, which can be used to redeem one of four rewards, according to the promotion's "Official Rules":

• Get your free member friend to go Gold and (1) you and your friend will each get 400 Microsoft Points* or (2) 600 Microsoft Points*, depending on the active offer.
• Get your free member friend to go Gold and (3) you and your friend will get a multiplayer Xbox Live Arcade game of Microsoft's choosing.
• Get your free member friend to try Gold with a promotional token good for 1 month of Gold, and (4) if your friend redeems the token within 30 days, you'll get 200 Microsoft Points*.

Recruiters (that's you!) can refer up to five friends per day, until the promotion's scheduled end date on July 1. Each recruiter is eligible to receive all four of the offers once during that time. Any funny business ("using multiple/different email addresses, Xbox Live accounts, identities, registrations and logins," etc.), Microsoft notes, will be grounds for disqualification -- but you won't be discharged from Xbox Live!

*Fine print: "Tokens to download points will expire on December 31, 2011. Once downloaded, promotional points will expire on June 30, 2012."

[Thanks, Zach]