POST variables to CGI via URL with URLencoded string fails??

[Sannyasin Sivakatirswami]

I have a simple CGI running that  receives subscription requests to our 
Hindu Press International mailing list.

Odd thing is... if I post the name and email address (only two fields 
in this form) to the CGI from a web form.. it works..

but if we try to post the same two values via a standard URL, with the 
input values appended in the normal way a URLencoded string, the CGI 
does respond, but it tells us that standardIn is returning empty??

The beginning of the CGI is straightforward:

on startup
     read from stdin until empty
     put it into temp
put  urlDecode (it)  into tDataIn
put tDataIn into tRemit
      split tDataIn by "&" and "="
   put isWellFormedMailtoScheme (tDataIn ["email"]) into emailCheck
    switch emailCheck

  ##  etc. process the subscription.. only two values expected, name and 
email address...

But this:

http://www.hinduismtoday.com/cgi-bin/ 
send_sub_request.cgi?name=Aloha+test&email=jiva%40hindu.org

doesn't work... standardIn returns empty.

but this online service for auto generating posts to CGI's does work:

http://www.io.com/~jsm/nph-ap.cgi/http://www.hinduismtoday.com/cgi-bin/ 
send_sub_request.cgi?name=Aloha+test&email=jiva%40hindu.org


Any clues on why standardIn would be empty on one and not on the other? 
Or strategies for testing?

Thanks

Sannyasin Sivakatirswami
Himalayan Academy Publications
at Kauai's Hindu Monastery
katir at hindu.org

www.HimalayanAcademy.com,
www.HinduismToday.com
www.Gurudeva.org
www.Hindu.org