Try checking the return value on the open() and close() - even if it doesn't solve this problem it's a good habit to get in. You could be getting a useful error and not know it! Example:

open(WEBOS,"$com|") 
  or die "Couldn't open '$com|': $!";
$com = join('', <WEBOS>);
close(WEBOS)
  or die "Couldn't close '$com|': $!";
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-sam