The patent trolls have made tens of billions at this point - around $20B last year alone in fact. They have deep pockets and will not go away easily. It will take a real fight to change things, and it will require the support of many industry players.
Since IP lawsuits entered my field of awareness, starting with the Napster Trial, I've always wanted to set up a web site called "idancedonyourgrave.com" (or something with a similar sentiment). Morbid, but I want user-submitted pics of people actually dancing on the graves of people who have damaged our society through policy and abuse of the system.
My current candidates are: Lars Ulrich (Metallica, figurehead of the Napster lawsuit), Jack Valenti (former president of the MPAA -- hey, he's dead now, too!), Hillary Rosen (former president of the RIAA), and now I'll add Katherine Wolanyk (from the article, a co-founder of Soverain, patent troll).
[1] http://www.economist.com/news/china/21570762-curb-widespread...