Yes, it's obviously a huge conspiracy and moderators and management alike are evil sinister people locking threads on items we have no control over :P
I'll maintain it's an issue with your browser or ISP BUT please keep in mind that we're often under DDOS attacks which may impair service. On another note, it's a very popular site, sometimes there is a peak of users where some might experience issues because of the load. If it doesn't work one day, try the next day. If you haven't been able to download files for weeks on end, then it might be a good idea to create a topic.