I had the same error. In my case I am using Netbeans 7.1.2, I am posting this because maybe someone end up here same as I did.
I tried to configure the proxy options from the GUI, but the documentation says that maven doesn’t read those. So I checked the NetBeans FAQ here :
What mainly you have to do is create (if it does not exist) a settings.xml under
user.home/.m2/settings.xml
if you don’t have it you can copy from
netbeans.home/java/maven/conf/settings.xml
then uncomment if you already have it otherwise just fill this section:
<proxies>
<proxy>
<active>true</active>
<host>myproxy.host.net</host>
<port>80</port>
</proxy>
</proxies>
you have to check your proxy configuration and replace it there