the upper one looks good, free.  needs more contrast/exposure control/gamma corr. IMVHO.
but the lower img is what you can get if ya apply an img map to a directional lite. 
it acts like a mask or gel.  however, i dunno if that's what's wrong there.  I would agree with hbo's
following post about deleting the IBL to make certain that's the bad lite.

p.s. the deal about indirect specular, caustics or even just reflection of directional lite beam:
they fake it in higher-end apps to save time.  it's not vital to have it IMVHO, hence i was relieved
when stefan didn't add it, as it would really slow down renders and nobody would use it, but they'd
have to add an increment to the sales price to cover it.