A Java .class file isn't actually safe, decompilers like Jad can turn them back into Java source.

That said: no, in principle, there's no proper way to "obfuscate" perl source so nobody can read it. There are joke modules, like Acme::Pony which can baffle newbies, but perl source has to be deobfuscated before perl can run it, and it's possible to insert a handler that prints out the deobfuscated source at that point.

Packagers like perl2exe, PerlApp and maybe even PAR can help easing distributing your perl application while somewhat hiding the source, but using them to really hide your source will likely be a disappointing experience. You can search (including on this site) on how perl2exe programs can be decompiled, and diotalevi wrote a module to assign reasonable names to modules of which the names have been rendered meaningless, as a response to an announcement of a program to obfuscate your source.

Experts would say: "use a proper license", and "Only crappy perl programmers really ask about hiding their source, likely out of shame of what they charge a lot of money for."