I have never tested with HTTPS myself so I don't know if the QML HTTP connection supports HTTPS or not.

Anyway I've updated the easylist.zip with the latest PHP files. You can download it from the first post now. Those files are now exactly the same as the ones I use on http://easylist.willemliu.nl.

The error you get might be that the latest N9 EasyList doesn't work correctly with the older webservice.

You are correct that the "syncing" isn't really a sync. It downloads the list if that list is newer and ignores it if it's not.