Firefox 3 'Download Day' cripples Mozilla site

Mozilla's big plan on Tuesday to set a world record for downloads with the Firefox 3 browser hit a snag when its Web site would not work properly.

Though the big "Download Day" was set to begin at 1 p.m. ET, Mozilla's Web site was down or working sporadically all morning on the East Coast, and users still could not download Firefox 3 from the site more than an hour later.

A Firefox spokeswoman said via e-mail just after 2 p.m. that the company was aware of the problem and "working to get it back up quickly."

Mozilla also outlined the problems it was having with its Web site in a blog entry.

"The outpouring of interest and enthusiasm around Firefox 3 has been overwhelming (literally!). Our servers are currently feeling the burn and should be back to normal shortly. Download day will officially commence once the site goes live. The 24 hours period will be clocked from that moment. Thanks for your continued support."