use IO::Socket

$ip = "204.202.136.31";  ## www.espn.com for fun :)
$port = "80";
$socket = IO::Socket::INET->new(PeerAddr => $ip,
                      PeerPort => $port,
                      Proto    => "tcp",
                      Type     => SOCK_STREAM) or die "@";

print $socket "GET /index.html HTTP/1.0\n\r\n\r";
while (<$socket>) {
  print $_;
}
close ($socket);