Windows Genuine Advantage - Internet Connection Problem [0x80080293]

It's all well and good having Windows Genuine Advantage so that only licensed users can download products and fixes but surely the servers should be highly available or it defeats the purpose? I have a problem with Windows Defender not carrying out scheduled scans and I deceided to reinstall it as a troubleshooting step. Despite having validated my copy of Windows XP many times in the past (repeatedly!) I can not currently download Windows Defender: