They are starting to use a membership fee system as of this month (January 2013).
Just a few choice quotes:
"The annual budget for arXiv is $400,000 for 2010." [1]
Total operating costs for 2013 are projected to be $837,000.[2]
"It has been announced that, beginning in September 2011, Cornell will completely take responsibility for the operation of the project, without the further participation of Ginsparg, who is quoted in the Chronicle of Higher Education as saying it "was supposed to be a three-hour tour, not a life sentence".[10]" [1]
It looks like the membership fee thing isn't a pay-wall.
From lower down the page:
"Exclusive benefits for participating organizations include:
Participation in arXiv's ongoing governance through the Member Advisory Board, which provides input for project prioritization, new service offerings, financial planning, use of discretionary funds, future technical developments, and policy decisions;
Access to enhanced institutional use statistics;
Public acknowledgement of members' role in financial support."
Just a few choice quotes:
"The annual budget for arXiv is $400,000 for 2010." [1]
Total operating costs for 2013 are projected to be $837,000.[2]
"It has been announced that, beginning in September 2011, Cornell will completely take responsibility for the operation of the project, without the further participation of Ginsparg, who is quoted in the Chronicle of Higher Education as saying it "was supposed to be a three-hour tour, not a life sentence".[10]" [1]
[1] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arxiv
[2] https://confluence.cornell.edu/download/attachments/12711648...