Zaxo, I compiled your code to the up until the "=pod" line. You say:

prints:
http://foo.org/cgi-bin/bar.cgi?ru=http%3A%2F%2Ffoo.org%2Fcgi-bin%2Fbar
+.cgi%3Fbaz%20%3D%20qu%20ux%3Bfoo%3Ddim
[download]

But, this is what it prints on my machine:

http://foo.org/cgi-bin/bar.cgi?ru=http://foo.org/cgi-bin/bar.cgi?baz%2
+0=%20qu%20ux;foo=dim
[download]

Only spaces are encoded.........?