My guess, in a word, would be permissions. The webserver is probably running as the "nobody" user or equivalent, which has very few privileges. Make sure that the w.stat file is chmod'd so as to be world-readable. The easiest way to do this is:
chmod +r w.stat
Update: As xphase_work states, $! normally spits out the more useful "Permission Denied" message in such cases. And FourPlay assures me that the directories and file in question are readable. $Chmrr->bark("wrong tree"); Perhaps the distinguished AM is on the right track?
Update 2: Looks like the most excellent tye found the problem. Give the man a ++!
perl -e 'print "I love $^X$\"$]!$/"#$&V"+@( NO CARRIER'
