Over the weekend, the blogosphere has seen a small but profound eruption of wrath over angel investor groups that charge startups to pitch them.

Jason Calacanis' blog post on the topic, wherein he went as far as calling out these groups by name and posting each group's pricetag, inspired "me too" posts from Fred Wilson and Robert Scoble. All parties seem to be in agreement that the practice is despicable and should be stopped. But like every hustle that preys on the gullible or less talented, pay-to-play pitching models will be perpetuated until made illegal, and no amount of blog posts will shame these investors into changing their behavior. So, should these scams be made illegal?

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The short answer is "maybe." Even in the gray areas of this murky-at-best practice, there's a distinction between a group charging entrepreneurs $25,000 to pitch and charging $500 for a questionable "boot camp" pre-pitch session.

For example, Maverick Angels charges $495 for a mandatory "day-long training focused on how to present to angel investors" before participating in a "