You say that the file is readable, but did you check from the account that your CGI's run under (ie. the webserver account)? Or only from your log-on account?
Examine what is said, not who speaks.
"Efficiency is intelligent laziness." -David Dunham
"When I'm working on a problem, I never think about beauty. I think only how to solve the problem. But when I have finished, if the solution is not beautiful, I know it is wrong." -Richard Buckminster Fuller