What about:

my $fh = DATA;
while (<$fh>) {
   chomp;
   next if /^#/ or $_ eq '';
   print $_;
}
__DATA__
Print this
and this
# but not this

Print me

# not
OK
[download]

One other remark: I'm not sure it is a good idea to do a "my $1". These variables have some magic in them which might get spoiled by doing that.