You’re all criminals. That’s not a sleight on your character, it’s just a simple fact. The law, as it stands, criminalises nearly everyone that writes stuff on the internet, or uses a telephone, which I am assuming is all of you.
The law in question is the Communications Act 2003, which you can read here: http://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/2003/21/section/127 It is the law under which Paul Chambers has just been prosecuted for using twitter to send a joke to his friends.
Here is the relevant text:
(1)A person is guilty of an offence if he—
(a)sends by means of a public electronic communications network a message or other matter that is grossly offensive or of an indecent, obscene or menacing character; or
(b)causes any such message or matter to be so sent.
(2)A person is guilty of an offence if, for the purpose of causing annoyance, inconvenience or needless anxiety to another, he—
(a)sends by means of a public electronic communications network, a message that he knows to be false,
(b)causes such a message to be sent; or
(c)persistently makes use of a public electronic communications network.
If I read that right (andI may be wrong) then telling an untruth in jest to wind a friend up is illegal. Telling an obscene joke is illegal. Putting something obscene as your status on facebook is illegal. Sarcasm and Hyperbole are both illegal.
See you all in prison.