This may be something you already know, but this is what I've found so far:
... at cuteftp.com:
'Permission Denied'
If you receive this message, your server administrator has not established your permissions correctly. You will need to call your server administrator to reset the permissions. Every time an FTP account (for uploading your Web pages) is opened, your server determines all the things that you are allowed to do--upload, download, write to a file, delete a file, make new directories, etc. If permissions have not been set up correctly, it will cause these types of problems. If any transaction you try with CuteFTP doesn't seem to be accomplished, refer to the log (the upper pane of the main CuteFTP screen) for any entries that are colored red or any message boxes that appear indicating a potential problem on your server's end.
also found:
550 restrict: Access is denied
When attempting to access restricted files via FTP, you may see the following error:
550 restrict: Access is denied.
It is no longer possible to change into the "restrict" directory to obtain restricted files. For more information on obtaining restricted files, see the previous section, Downloading Restricted Files.
Downloading Restricted Files
To download a restricted file, you need to manually enter a GET command at the command prompt of your FTP client, as in the following example:
GET /restrict/myfile.exe