Index: src/java/org/apache/ivy/util/url/BasicURLHandler.java
===================================================================
--- src/java/org/apache/ivy/util/url/BasicURLHandler.java	(revision 678620)
+++ src/java/org/apache/ivy/util/url/BasicURLHandler.java	(working copy)
@@ -134,6 +134,19 @@
                         "Downloaded file size doesn't match expected Content Length for " + src
                                 + ". Please retry.");
             }
+            // We can only figure the content we got is want we want if the status is success.
+            if (srcConn instanceof HttpURLConnection) {
+                int status = ((HttpURLConnection) srcConn).getResponseCode();
+
+                if ((status / 100) != 2) {
+                    dest.delete();
+                    String message = ((HttpURLConnection) srcConn).getResponseMessage(); 
+                    throw new IOException(
+                            "The HTTP response code for " + src + " did not indicate success."
+                                    + " The response code was " + status + " the message being '" + message + "'."
+                                    + " Please retry.");
+                }
+            }
             long lastModified = srcConn.getLastModified();
             if (lastModified > 0) {
                 dest.setLastModified(lastModified);
Index: src/java/org/apache/ivy/util/url/HttpClientHandler.java
===================================================================
--- src/java/org/apache/ivy/util/url/HttpClientHandler.java	(revision 678620)
+++ src/java/org/apache/ivy/util/url/HttpClientHandler.java	(working copy)
@@ -91,6 +91,14 @@
 
     public void download(URL src, File dest, CopyProgressListener l) throws IOException {
         GetMethod get = doGet(src);
+        // We can only figure the content we got is want we want if the status is success.
+        if ((get.getStatusCode() / 100) != 2) {
+            throw new IOException(
+                    "The HTTP response code for " + src + " did not indicate success."
+                            + " The response code was " + get.getStatusCode()
+                            + " the message being '" + get.getStatusText() + "'."
+                            + " Please retry.");
+        }
         FileUtil.copy(get.getResponseBodyAsStream(), dest, l);
         dest.setLastModified(getLastModified(get));
         get.releaseConnection();