i finally got mine to work (i am in so cal), but i have no earthly idea why. i didnt do anything. the atv2 went into sleep mode and when i woke it up, the update thingy came up and i thought "what the heck, why not?" so i tried and it worked. but it had failed several times before this. maybe it was the turning off or sleeping thing that helped.
maybe i got sent to a different server, if that's even possible. i have no idea, i buy apple stuff cause its easy and most of the time it does "just work". the problem is that when it doesnt "just work" it really doesnt work at all, and non-geeks (i say that with the utmost awe and respect as a total computer illiterate) like me are stuck until it does.
i hope they get it up and working for everyone soon.