yum command fails with error: [Errno 14] PYCURL ERROR 9 - "Server denied you to change to the given directory"

Issue

• On Red Hat Enterprise Linux 6.2, yum install fails with the following:

[root@example ~]# yum install gcc
Loaded plugins: product-id, refresh-packagekit, rhnplugin, subscription-manager
Updating Red Hat repositories.
ftp://ftp.redhat.com/pub/redhat/linux/beta/6Server/en/os/SRPMS/repodata/repomd.xml: [Errno 14] PYCURL ERROR 9 - "Server denied you to change to the given directory"
Trying other mirror.
Error: Cannot retrieve repository metadata (repomd.xml) for repository: rhel-source-beta. Please verify its path and try again

# yum update --downloadonly --downloaddir /home/sri/rpm_updates_ftp2b 
Loaded plugins: downloadonly, product-id, refresh-packagekit, security, subscription-manager 
This system is receiving updates from Red Hat Subscription Management. 
ftp://ftp.redhat.com/pub/redhat/linux/enterprise/%24releasever/en/os/SRPMS/repodata/repomd.xml: [Errno 14] PYCURL ERROR 9 - "Server denied you to change to the given directory" 
Trying other mirror. 
Error: Cannot retrieve repository metadata (repomd.xml) for repository: rhel-source. Please verify its path and try again