Good questions Brent! My quick thoughts are below . . . anybody else?
Open Source, including GPL and other variations, as well as hybrid open source and proprietary models, continue to make substantial inroads in the software arena. Microsoft's recent announcement to open up interface and related information/code shows the continuing vitality of the open source appraoch, and the value of releasing code and documentation to the community at large. I am not sure it is really a strategy for IP protection but rather a different business model where value comes from the service provided and the brand instead of the copyrighted and patented software.
One way IP is protected in the global landscape is to make it available only on a hosted, SaaS model, so that physical copies are never distributed. In the gaming world, this is an effective way to protect the IP. Of course, constant updates helps take away value from the copyer!
DRM is a controversial approach to protecting IP rights. I do think technological solutions will be viable ways to protect authors and artists from illegal copying.
It is hard to predict 15 years out, but I expect continuing battles between content and IP providers on the one hand and equipment, service and aggregators such as Google and YouTube on the other hand, and would not be surprised to see a wireless, connected world where digital-based IP is more fiercely protected.
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