--- a/browser/modules/DirectoryLinksProvider.jsm
+++ b/browser/modules/DirectoryLinksProvider.jsm
@@ -86,7 +86,7 @@ var DirectoryLinksProvider = {
    * @return  the selected locale or "en-US" if none is selected
    */
   get locale() {
-    return Services.locale.getRequestedLocale() || "en-US";
+    return "en-US";
   },
 
   /**
@@ -138,13 +138,6 @@ var DirectoryLinksProvider = {
   },
 
   _fetchAndCacheLinks: function DirectoryLinksProvider_fetchAndCacheLinks(uri) {
-    // Replace with the same display locale used for selecting links data
-    uri = uri.replace("%LOCALE%", this.locale);
-    uri = uri.replace("%CHANNEL%", UpdateUtils.UpdateChannel);
-
-    return this._downloadJsonData(uri).then(json => {
-      return OS.File.writeAtomic(this._directoryFilePath, json, {tmpPath: this._directoryFilePath + ".tmp"});
-    });
   },
 
   /**
@@ -153,33 +146,6 @@ var DirectoryLinksProvider = {
    * @return promise resolved to json string, "{}" returned if status != 200
    */
   _downloadJsonData: function DirectoryLinksProvider__downloadJsonData(uri) {
-    return new Promise((resolve, reject) => {
-      let xmlHttp = this._newXHR();
-
-      xmlHttp.onload = function(aResponse) {
-        let json = this.responseText;
-        if (this.status && this.status != 200) {
-          json = "{}";
-        }
-        resolve(json);
-      };
-
-      xmlHttp.onerror = function(e) {
-        reject("Fetching " + uri + " results in error code: " + e.target.status);
-      };
-
-      try {
-        xmlHttp.open("GET", uri);
-        // Override the type so XHR doesn't complain about not well-formed XML
-        xmlHttp.overrideMimeType(DIRECTORY_LINKS_TYPE);
-        // Set the appropriate request type for servers that require correct types
-        xmlHttp.setRequestHeader("Content-Type", DIRECTORY_LINKS_TYPE);
-        xmlHttp.send();
-      } catch (e) {
-        reject("Error fetching " + uri);
-        Cu.reportError(e);
-      }
-    });
   },
 
   /**
@@ -187,30 +187,6 @@
    * @return promise resolved immediately if no download needed, or upon completion
    */
   _fetchAndCacheLinksIfNecessary: function DirectoryLinksProvider_fetchAndCacheLinksIfNecessary(forceDownload = false) {
-    if (this._downloadDeferred) {
-      // fetching links already - just return the promise
-      return this._downloadDeferred.promise;
-    }
-
-    if (forceDownload || this._needsDownload) {
-      this._downloadDeferred = PromiseUtils.defer();
-      this._fetchAndCacheLinks(this._linksURL).then(() => {
-        // the new file was successfully downloaded and cached, so update a timestamp
-        this._lastDownloadMS = Date.now();
-        this._downloadDeferred.resolve();
-        this._downloadDeferred = null;
-        this._callObservers("onManyLinksChanged")
-      },
-      error => {
-        this._downloadDeferred.resolve();
-        this._downloadDeferred = null;
-        this._callObservers("onDownloadFail");
-      });
-      return this._downloadDeferred.promise;
-    }
-
-    // download is not needed
-    return Promise.resolve();
   },
 
   /**
@@ -376,3 +318,4 @@ var DirectoryLinksProvider = {
     this._observers.clear();
   }
 };
+