Hello to everyone i haven't greeted yet :)
ddickinson: I guess with it being such a silly setup that is why Steam and GOG most likely don't want to bother with it, maybe they are not allowed to use the verification systems of the German Mail or the Bank due to them being international business, even though they have German offices. I guess a change in the law is the only likely fix to all this, given how complicated it can be.
Australia does indeed ban a few games, but not as bad when compared to the sheer amount of games, literature, movies, etc, that Germany limits. I just don't see the logic in it. They ban/index some violent games, but allow many others, there seems to be little consistency.
If the German politician would really care it would be more that they'd threaten to ban Steam and GOG altogether because of violating German law in the first place...but not very likely i guess. And honestly the system is not than complicated given the fact that age verification is technically necessary for all games rated 16 and upwards (18 / unrated / indexed).
Yes but in contrast to Germany they outright ban the games. In Germany only a fraction of the indexed media is really banned (= it's forbidden to sell them) - the vast majority only hast restrictions when it comes to selling them (advertising is not allowed, it has to be a seperate area in a store....). You mentioned literature. The index only refers to print media which mostly is magazines or comics - i mean even "Mein Kampf" is sold in Germany, in an annotated version. I couldn't think of a book which is really forbidden unless
The inconsistency is indeed a problem which happens due to the rotation of the people involved in the age verification process which could be solved by established clear rules similar to the PEGI for example...