my $child_pid = open $handle, '-|', '/path/to/program' or die "Error starting program $!";

# Some time later the program stops responding
kill($child_pid);

##</code><code>##

my $child_pid = fork();
if( 0 == $child_pid )
{
  # Child
  exec '/path/to/program';
  die "error starting program $!";
}

# Some time later the program stops responding
kill($child_pid);