> With guns you can execute a crime, with encryption you cannot.
What about the ransomware that encrypts your data and makes you pay money to have it decrypted?
With both guns and crypto, I think we're all better off to focus on keeping the tool legal and selectively outlawing certain human behaviors that use the tool.
> we don't punish on intentions but only on facts.
Yes we do. Murder vs Manslaughter, "Intent to commit murder", "killing in self defense", theft and fraud are all crimes where someone's intentions are very important.
Quite there, however "Intent to commit murder" is when you actually try to kill somehow, you did make some actions to actually try to kill.
Didn't get the connection with "killing in self defense".
It is true that theft and fraud are all crimes where the intentions are important, however it applies after the crime is already been confirmed.
That we don't punish intentions but only fact is a major cornerstone of the western jurisdictional system; in my opinion is actually weird that we are discussing this.
Please note that the common definition of intents is different from the legal one.
> Didn't get the connection with "killing in self defense".
If a reasonable person, in your situtioan, thought that their life was in danger, they can kill someone in self defence. This is less about "intention", but about "what's inside your head", but hose are very similar.
> It is true that theft and fraud are all crimes where the intentions are important, however it applies after the crime is already been confirmed.
Not always. Some countries say "theft" is only when you intend to permanently deprive someone of something. So if I find your wallet on the street, and pick it up in order to bring it to the police station, then I amn't guilty of stealing your wallet. Because I didn't intend to when I picked it up.
With guns you can execute a crime, with encryption you cannot.
It is true that you can plan a crime with the use of encryption, but we don't punish on intentions but only on facts.
It is not illegal to plan how to kill someone, while it is illegal to actually kill somebody or to try to do it.