Crosbie, could we try a little thought experiment? WordPress is the world's number one platform for authors. They host millions of sites – both personal and commercial – and share their software for self-hosting. In a very real sense people trust Automattic (the company that publishes WordPress) with their IP. WordPress's data model includes a mode for private publication; you must be a site member with a particular role to see a particular post or collection of posts; often used to erect paywalls or to limit who sees family photos. So: trusted agent; IP data storage; ACLs; blogging social broadcasting.
What features would you add to WordPress or alter in WordPress to complete your vision of a VRM for authors? What would be in your spec sheet for the VRM plug-in and theme?