There's an interesting thread on paying referees currently running on the The AmSci (a.k.a. September98) discussion list.
Posted by
Peter Suber at 8/20/2002 11:48:00 AM.
The open access movement:
Putting peer-reviewed scientific and scholarly literature
on the internet. Making it available free of charge and
free of most copyright and licensing restrictions.
Removing the barriers to serious research.