I have a Perl Program containing IP that needs to be protected.

Ambiguous: Is it the Perl that needs to be protected and the script also happens to contain intellectual property or is it the IP inside the script that needs protection?

No, nevermind the ambiguity. It's not the real issue.

The real issue is how to protect some idea, procedure, brainstorm, or whatever that's incorporated in your code.

As I'm sure you're aware, IP protection is conventionally provided by patents, copywrite and similar legal mechanisms ... or by eschewing those (so there's not a public record of your 'secret' and keeping a hard lockdown on the IP (ie, having the money to successfully sue anyone you suspect of stealing the secret and the resources to identify at least most of the violators.

As asserted above and in your previous node, obfuscation doesn't constitute a lockdown; in fact, presents only a trivial hinderance to discovery. And if your IP has significant value, then the cost of hiring a cracker/reverse-engineer is inconsequential compared to the value of the information.

Bottom line -- as suggested above -- forget about obfuscation! Forget about compilation. Forget about almost any other alternative, at least until you ask an attorney about legal possibilities rather than blowing them off with a remark like "copyrighting, licensing, etc, are not enough (or applicable)....

Update: Para 2,3,& 4 added for clarity.