diff --git a/youtube_dl/extractor/niconico.py b/youtube_dl/extractor/niconico.py
index 46774317c9..517a72561b 100644
--- a/youtube_dl/extractor/niconico.py
+++ b/youtube_dl/extractor/niconico.py
@@ -1,12 +1,10 @@
 # encoding: utf-8
+from __future__ import unicode_literals
 
 import re
-import socket
 
 from .common import InfoExtractor
 from ..utils import (
-    compat_http_client,
-    compat_urllib_error,
     compat_urllib_parse,
     compat_urllib_request,
     compat_urlparse,
@@ -18,57 +16,54 @@ from ..utils import (
 
 
 class NiconicoIE(InfoExtractor):
-    IE_NAME = u'niconico'
-    IE_DESC = u'ニコニコ動画'
+    IE_NAME = 'niconico'
+    IE_DESC = 'ニコニコ動画'
 
     _TEST = {
-        u'url': u'http://www.nicovideo.jp/watch/sm22312215',
-        u'file': u'sm22312215.mp4',
-        u'md5': u'd1a75c0823e2f629128c43e1212760f9',
-        u'info_dict': {
-            u'title': u'Big Buck Bunny',
-            u'uploader': u'takuya0301',
-            u'uploader_id': u'2698420',
-            u'upload_date': u'20131123',
-            u'description': u'(c) copyright 2008, Blender Foundation / www.bigbuckbunny.org',
+        'url': 'http://www.nicovideo.jp/watch/sm22312215',
+        'md5': 'd1a75c0823e2f629128c43e1212760f9',
+        'info_dict': {
+            'id': 'sm22312215',
+            'ext': 'mp4',
+            'title': 'Big Buck Bunny',
+            'uploader': 'takuya0301',
+            'uploader_id': '2698420',
+            'upload_date': '20131123',
+            'description': '(c) copyright 2008, Blender Foundation / www.bigbuckbunny.org',
         },
-        u'params': {
-            u'username': u'ydl.niconico@gmail.com',
-            u'password': u'youtube-dl',
+        'params': {
+            'username': 'ydl.niconico@gmail.com',
+            'password': 'youtube-dl',
         },
     }
 
     _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
 
     def _real_initialize(self):
         self._login()
 
     def _login(self):
         (username, password) = self._get_login_info()
-        # No authentication to be performed
         if username is None:
-            if self._LOGIN_REQUIRED:
-                raise ExtractorError(u'No login info available, needed for using %s.' % self.IE_NAME, expected=True)
-            return False
+            # Login is required
+            raise ExtractorError('No login info available, needed for using %s.' % self.IE_NAME, expected=True)
 
         # Log in
         login_form_strs = {
-            u'mail': username,
-            u'password': password,
+            'mail': username,
+            '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_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('utf-8')
         request = compat_urllib_request.Request(
-            u'https://secure.nicovideo.jp/secure/login', login_data)
+            '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')
+            request, None, note='Logging in', errnote='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')
+            self._downloader.report_warning('unable to log in: bad username or password')
             return False
         return True
 
@@ -82,12 +77,12 @@ class NiconicoIE(InfoExtractor):
 
         video_info = self._download_xml(
             'http://ext.nicovideo.jp/api/getthumbinfo/' + video_id, video_id,
-            note=u'Downloading video info page')
+            note='Downloading video info page')
 
         # Get flv info
         flv_info_webpage = self._download_webpage(
-            u'http://flapi.nicovideo.jp/api/getflv?v=' + video_id,
-            video_id, u'Downloading flv info')
+            'http://flapi.nicovideo.jp/api/getflv?v=' + video_id,
+            video_id, 'Downloading flv info')
         video_real_url = compat_urlparse.parse_qs(flv_info_webpage)['url'][0]
 
         # Start extracting information
@@ -106,22 +101,22 @@ class NiconicoIE(InfoExtractor):
         url = 'http://seiga.nicovideo.jp/api/user/info?id=' + video_uploader_id
         try:
             user_info = self._download_xml(
-                url, video_id, note=u'Downloading user information')
+                url, video_id, note='Downloading user information')
             video_uploader = user_info.find('.//nickname').text
-        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))
+        except ExtractorError as err:
+            self._downloader.report_warning('Unable to download user info webpage: %s' % compat_str(err))
 
         return {
-            'id':          video_id,
-            'url':         video_real_url,
-            'title':       video_title,
-            'ext':         video_extension,
-            'format':      video_format,
-            'thumbnail':   video_thumbnail,
+            'id': video_id,
+            'url': video_real_url,
+            'title': video_title,
+            'ext': video_extension,
+            'format': video_format,
+            'thumbnail': video_thumbnail,
             'description': video_description,
-            'uploader':    video_uploader,
+            'uploader': video_uploader,
             'upload_date': video_upload_date,
             'uploader_id': video_uploader_id,
-            'view_count':  video_view_count,
+            'view_count': video_view_count,
             'webpage_url': video_webpage_url,
         }