I have been using Boinc (today I updated to version 7.0.28, but had been using an earlier [6.10.60] version with no problems) and Seti@Home for a while now and, of course, have experienced times when they apparently run out of work or other problems. Currently I am getting, and have for many days, the message (not Notice): “Downloading work from the server.” When I check the “Transfers” I see a long list of items, none of which do anything. They all say “Download: pending (project backoff: [time]” Is this a problem on my end or is this a Seti@Home problem?

The Setiathome download link is almost always under very heavy load, you'll just have to hit retry every now and again
(Boinc 6.12.x and 7 also has extended backoffs so to not a denial of service of the download link):

Weekly Graphs for gigabitethernet2_3

Claggy

"Boinc 6.12.x and 7 also has extended backoffs so to not a denial of service of the download link)"

Sorry, I don't understand your parenthetical statement.

You might also wish to post your question directly on their Number Crunching forum for some other replies as well.