diff --git a/youtube_dl/extractor/niconico.py b/youtube_dl/extractor/niconico.py
index 8638a8ee8..22898b5a1 100644
--- a/youtube_dl/extractor/niconico.py
+++ b/youtube_dl/extractor/niconico.py
@@ -17,6 +17,7 @@ from ..utils import (
     unified_strdate,
 )
 
+
 class NiconicoIE(InfoExtractor):
     IE_NAME = u'niconico'
     IE_DESC = u'ニコニコ動画'
@@ -38,8 +39,7 @@ class NiconicoIE(InfoExtractor):
         },
     }
 
-    _VALID_URL = r'^(?:https?://)?(?:www\.)?nicovideo\.jp/watch/([a-z][a-z][0-9]+)(?:.*)$'
-    _LOGIN_URL = 'https://secure.nicovideo.jp/secure/login'
+    _VALID_URL = r'^https?://(?:www\.|secure\.)?nicovideo\.jp/watch/([a-z][a-z][0-9]+)(?:.*)$'
     _NETRC_MACHINE = 'niconico'
     # If True it will raise an error if no login info is provided
     _LOGIN_REQUIRED = True
@@ -57,99 +57,63 @@ class NiconicoIE(InfoExtractor):
 
         # Log in
         login_form_strs = {
-                u'mail': username,
-                u'password': password,
+            u'mail': username,
+            u'password': password,
         }
         # Convert to UTF-8 *before* urlencode because Python 2.x's urlencode
         # chokes on unicode
         login_form = dict((k.encode('utf-8'), v.encode('utf-8')) for k,v in login_form_strs.items())
-        login_data = compat_urllib_parse.urlencode(login_form).encode('ascii')
-        request = compat_urllib_request.Request(self._LOGIN_URL, login_data)
-        try:
-            self.report_login()
-            login_results = compat_urllib_request.urlopen(request).read().decode('utf-8')
-            if re.search(r'(?i)<h1 class="mb8p4">Log in error</h1>', login_results) is not None:
-                self._downloader.report_warning(u'unable to log in: bad username or password')
-                return False
-        except (compat_urllib_error.URLError, compat_http_client.HTTPException, socket.error) as err:
-            self._downloader.report_warning(u'unable to log in: %s' % compat_str(err))
+        login_data = compat_urllib_parse.urlencode(login_form).encode('utf-8')
+        request = compat_urllib_request.Request(
+            u'https://secure.nicovideo.jp/secure/login', login_data)
+        login_results = self._download_webpage(
+            request, u'', note=u'Logging in', errnote=u'Unable to log in')
+        if re.search(r'(?i)<h1 class="mb8p4">Log in error</h1>', login_results) is not None:
+            self._downloader.report_warning(u'unable to log in: bad username or password')
             return False
         return True
 
     def _real_extract(self, url):
-        video_id = self._extract_id(url)
+        mobj = re.match(self._VALID_URL, url)
+        video_id = mobj.group(1)
 
         # Get video webpage
-        self.report_video_webpage_download(video_id)
-        url = 'http://www.nicovideo.jp/watch/' + video_id
-        request = compat_urllib_request.Request(url)
-        try:
-            video_webpage = compat_urllib_request.urlopen(request).read()
-        except (compat_urllib_error.URLError, compat_http_client.HTTPException, socket.error) as err:
-            raise ExtractorError(u'Unable to download video webpage: %s' % compat_str(err))
+        video_webpage = self._download_webpage(
+            'http://www.nicovideo.jp/watch/' + video_id, video_id)
 
-        # Get video info
-        self.report_video_info_webpage_download(video_id)
-        url = 'http://ext.nicovideo.jp/api/getthumbinfo/' + video_id
-        request = compat_urllib_request.Request(url)
-        try:
-            video_info_webpage = compat_urllib_request.urlopen(request).read()
-        except (compat_urllib_error.URLError, compat_http_client.HTTPException, socket.error) as err:
-            raise ExtractorError(u'Unable to download video info webpage: %s' % compat_str(err))
+        video_info_webpage = self._download_webpage(
+            'http://ext.nicovideo.jp/api/getthumbinfo/' + video_id, video_id,
+            note=u'Downloading video info page')
 
         # Get flv info
-        self.report_flv_info_webpage_download(video_id)
-        url = 'http://flapi.nicovideo.jp/api/getflv?v=' + video_id
-        request = compat_urllib_request.Request(url)
-        try:
-            flv_info_webpage = compat_urllib_request.urlopen(request).read()
-        except (compat_urllib_error.URLError, compat_http_client.HTTPException, socket.error) as err:
-            raise ExtractorError(u'Unable to download flv info webpage: %s' % compat_str(err))
+        flv_info_webpage = self._download_webpage(
+            u'http://flapi.nicovideo.jp/api/getflv?v=' + video_id,
+            video_id, u'Downloading flv info')
+        video_real_url = compat_urlparse.parse_qs(flv_info_webpage)['url'][0]
 
         # Start extracting information
-        self.report_information_extraction(video_id)
         video_info = xml.etree.ElementTree.fromstring(video_info_webpage)
-
-        # url
-        video_real_url = compat_urlparse.parse_qs(flv_info_webpage.decode('utf-8'))['url'][0]
-
-        # title
         video_title = video_info.find('.//title').text
-
-        # ext
         video_extension = video_info.find('.//movie_type').text
-
-        # format
         video_format = video_extension.upper()
-
-        # thumbnail
         video_thumbnail = video_info.find('.//thumbnail_url').text
-
-        # description
         video_description = video_info.find('.//description').text
-
-        # uploader_id
         video_uploader_id = video_info.find('.//user_id').text
+        video_upload_date = unified_strdate(video_info.find('.//first_retrieve').text.split('+')[0])
+        video_view_count = video_info.find('.//view_counter').text
+        video_webpage_url = video_info.find('.//watch_url').text
 
         # uploader
+        video_uploader = video_uploader_id
         url = 'http://seiga.nicovideo.jp/api/user/info?id=' + video_uploader_id
-        request = compat_urllib_request.Request(url)
         try:
-            user_info_webpage = compat_urllib_request.urlopen(request).read()
+            user_info_webpage = self._download_webpage(
+                url, video_id, note=u'Downloading user information')
         except (compat_urllib_error.URLError, compat_http_client.HTTPException, socket.error) as err:
             self._downloader.report_warning(u'Unable to download user info webpage: %s' % compat_str(err))
-
-        user_info = xml.etree.ElementTree.fromstring(user_info_webpage)
-        video_uploader = user_info.find('.//nickname').text
-
-        # uploder_date
-        video_upload_date = unified_strdate(video_info.find('.//first_retrieve').text.split('+')[0])
-
-        # view_count
-        video_view_count = video_info.find('.//view_counter').text
-
-        # webpage_url
-        video_webpage_url = video_info.find('.//watch_url').text
+        else:
+            user_info = xml.etree.ElementTree.fromstring(user_info_webpage)
+            video_uploader = user_info.find('.//nickname').text
 
         return {
             'id':          video_id,
@@ -165,26 +129,3 @@ class NiconicoIE(InfoExtractor):
             'view_count':  video_view_count,
             'webpage_url': video_webpage_url,
         }
-
-    def _extract_id(self, url):
-        mobj = re.match(self._VALID_URL, url)
-        if mobj is None:
-            raise ExtractorError(u'Invalid URL: %s' % url)
-        video_id = mobj.group(1)
-        return video_id
-
-    def report_video_webpage_download(self, video_id):
-        """Report attempt to download video webpage."""
-        self.to_screen(u'%s: Downloading video webpage' % video_id)
-
-    def report_video_info_webpage_download(self, video_id):
-        """Report attempt to download video info webpage."""
-        self.to_screen(u'%s: Downloading video info webpage' % video_id)
-
-    def report_flv_info_webpage_download(self, video_id):
-        """Report attempt to download flv info webpage."""
-        self.to_screen(u'%s: Downloading flv info webpage' % video_id)
-
-    def report_information_extraction(self, video_id):
-        """Report attempt to extract video information."""
-        self.to_screen(u'%s: Extracting video information' % video_id)
diff --git a/youtube_dl/utils.py b/youtube_dl/utils.py
index 0720fe9eb..34b3d19e0 100644
--- a/youtube_dl/utils.py
+++ b/youtube_dl/utils.py
@@ -12,6 +12,7 @@ import os
 import pipes
 import platform
 import re
+import ssl
 import socket
 import sys
 import traceback
@@ -535,13 +536,31 @@ def formatSeconds(secs):
     else:
         return '%d' % secs
 
+
 def make_HTTPS_handler(opts):
-    if sys.version_info < (3,2):
-        # Python's 2.x handler is very simplistic
-        return compat_urllib_request.HTTPSHandler()
+    if sys.version_info < (3, 2):
+        import httplib
+
+        class HTTPSConnectionV3(httplib.HTTPSConnection):
+            def __init__(self, *args, **kwargs):
+                httplib.HTTPSConnection.__init__(self, *args, **kwargs)
+
+            def connect(self):
+                sock = socket.create_connection((self.host, self.port), self.timeout)
+                if self._tunnel_host:
+                    self.sock = sock
+                    self._tunnel()
+                try:
+                    self.sock = ssl.wrap_socket(sock, self.key_file, self.cert_file, ssl_version=ssl.PROTOCOL_SSLv3)
+                except ssl.SSLError as e:
+                    self.sock = ssl.wrap_socket(sock, self.key_file, self.cert_file, ssl_version=ssl.PROTOCOL_SSLv23)
+
+        class HTTPSHandlerV3(compat_urllib_request.HTTPSHandler):
+            def https_open(self, req):
+                return self.do_open(HTTPSConnectionV3, req)
+        return HTTPSHandlerV3()
     else:
-        import ssl
-        context = ssl.SSLContext(ssl.PROTOCOL_SSLv23)
+        context = ssl.SSLContext(ssl.PROTOCOL_SSLv3)
         context.set_default_verify_paths()
         
         context.verify_mode = (ssl.CERT_NONE