<s>
eMule	B-Protocol
is	O
a	O
free	B-Application
peer-to-peer	O
file	O
sharing	O
application	O
for	O
Microsoft	B-Application
Windows	I-Application
.	O
</s>
<s>
Started	O
in	O
May	O
2002	O
as	O
an	O
alternative	O
to	O
eDonkey2000	B-Protocol
,	O
eMule	B-Protocol
now	O
connects	O
to	O
both	O
the	O
eDonkey	O
network	O
and	O
the	O
Kad	O
network	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
distinguishing	O
features	O
of	O
eMule	B-Protocol
are	O
the	O
direct	O
exchange	O
of	O
sources	O
between	O
client	O
nodes	O
,	O
fast	O
recovery	O
of	O
corrupted	O
downloads	O
,	O
and	O
the	O
use	O
of	O
a	O
credit	O
system	O
to	O
reward	O
frequent	O
uploaders	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Furthermore	O
,	O
eMule	B-Protocol
transmits	O
data	O
in	O
zlib-compressed	O
form	O
to	O
save	O
bandwidth	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
eMule	B-Protocol
is	O
coded	O
in	O
C++	B-Language
using	O
the	O
Microsoft	B-Language
Foundation	I-Language
Classes	I-Language
.	O
</s>
<s>
Since	O
July	O
2002	O
eMule	B-Protocol
has	O
been	O
free	B-Application
software	I-Application
,	O
released	O
under	O
the	O
GNU	B-License
General	I-License
Public	I-License
License	I-License
;	O
its	O
popularity	O
has	O
led	O
to	O
eMule	B-Protocol
's	O
codebase	O
being	O
used	O
as	O
the	O
basis	O
of	O
cross-platform	B-Operating_System
clients	O
aMule	B-Language
,	O
JMule	B-Language
,	O
xMule	B-Language
,	O
along	O
with	O
the	O
release	O
of	O
many	O
eMule	B-Protocol
mods	O
(	O
modifications	O
of	O
the	O
original	O
eMule	B-Protocol
)	O
on	O
the	O
Internet	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
As	O
of	O
August	O
2017	O
,	O
it	O
is	O
the	O
fourth	O
most	O
downloaded	O
project	O
on	O
SourceForge	B-Application
,	O
with	O
over	O
685	O
million	O
downloads	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Development	O
was	O
later	O
restarted	O
by	O
the	O
community	O
as	O
eMule	B-Protocol
Community	O
;	O
the	O
latest	O
stable	O
version	O
is	O
0.60d	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
eMule	B-Protocol
project	O
was	O
started	O
on	O
May	O
13	O
,	O
2002	O
by	O
Hendrik	O
Breitkreuz	O
(	O
also	O
known	O
as	O
Merkur	O
)	O
who	O
was	O
dissatisfied	O
with	O
the	O
original	O
eDonkey2000	B-Protocol
client	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
source	O
was	O
first	O
released	O
at	O
version	O
0.02	O
and	O
published	O
on	O
SourceForge	B-Application
on	O
July	O
6	O
,	O
2002	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
eMule	B-Protocol
was	O
first	O
released	O
as	O
a	O
binary	O
on	O
August	O
4	O
,	O
2002	O
at	O
version	O
0.05a	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
eMule	B-Protocol
project	O
website	O
started	O
up	O
on	O
December	O
8	O
,	O
2002	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Current	O
versions	O
(	O
v0.40	O
+	O
)	O
of	O
eMule	B-Protocol
have	O
added	O
support	O
for	O
the	O
Kad	O
network	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
This	O
network	O
has	O
an	O
implementation	O
of	O
the	O
Kademlia	B-Operating_System
protocol	O
,	O
which	O
does	O
not	O
rely	O
on	O
central	O
servers	O
as	O
the	O
eDonkey	O
network	O
does	O
,	O
but	O
is	O
an	O
implementation	O
of	O
a	O
distributed	B-Operating_System
hash	I-Operating_System
table	I-Operating_System
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
application	O
adds	O
an	O
IP	B-Protocol
address	I-Protocol
to	O
this	O
list	O
after	O
one	O
unsuccessful	O
connection	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
After	O
adding	O
an	O
IP	B-Protocol
to	O
the	O
"	O
Bad	O
source	O
list	O
"	O
,	O
the	O
application	O
treats	O
this	O
IP	B-Protocol
as	O
a	O
"	O
dead	O
"	O
IP	B-Protocol
.	O
</s>
<s>
Other	O
recent	O
additions	O
include	O
:	O
the	O
ability	O
to	O
run	O
eMule	B-Protocol
from	O
a	O
user	O
account	O
with	O
limited	O
privileges	O
(	O
thus	O
enhancing	O
security	O
)	O
,	O
and	O
Intelligent	O
Corruption	O
Handling	O
(	O
so	O
that	O
a	O
corrupted	O
chunk	O
does	O
not	O
need	O
to	O
be	O
re-downloaded	O
entirely	O
)	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
0.46b	O
version	O
added	O
the	O
creation	O
and	O
management	O
of	O
"	O
eMule	B-Protocol
collection	O
"	O
files	O
,	O
which	O
contain	O
a	O
set	O
of	O
links	O
to	O
files	O
intended	O
to	O
be	O
downloaded	O
as	O
a	O
set	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
0.47b	O
version	O
adds	O
protocol	B-Protocol
obfuscation	I-Protocol
and	O
eMule	B-Protocol
will	O
automatically	O
select	O
two	O
port	O
numbers	O
at	O
random	O
in	O
the	O
startup	O
wizard	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Each	O
file	O
that	O
is	O
shared	O
using	O
eMule	B-Protocol
is	O
hashed	B-Error_Name
as	O
a	O
hash	B-Algorithm
list	I-Algorithm
comprising	O
separate	O
9500	O
KiB	O
chunks	O
using	O
the	O
MD4	B-Algorithm
algorithm	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
top-level	O
MD4	B-Algorithm
hash	I-Algorithm
,	O
file	O
size	O
,	O
filename	O
,	O
and	O
several	O
secondary	O
search	O
attributes	O
such	O
as	O
bit	O
rate	O
and	O
codec	O
are	O
stored	O
on	O
eD2k	O
servers	O
and	O
the	O
serverless	O
Kad	O
network	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Users	O
can	O
search	O
for	O
filenames	O
in	O
the	O
servers/kad	O
and	O
are	O
presented	O
with	O
the	O
filenames	O
and	O
the	O
unique	O
identifier	O
consisting	O
of	O
the	O
top-level	O
MD4	B-Algorithm
hash	I-Algorithm
for	O
the	O
file	O
and	O
the	O
file	O
's	O
size	O
that	O
can	O
be	O
added	O
to	O
their	O
downloads	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
client	O
then	O
asks	O
the	O
servers	O
where	O
the	O
other	O
clients	O
are	O
using	O
that	O
hash	B-Algorithm
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
servers	O
return	O
a	O
set	O
of	O
IP/ports	O
that	O
indicate	O
the	O
locations	O
of	O
the	O
clients	O
that	O
share	O
the	O
file	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
eMule	B-Protocol
then	O
asks	O
the	O
peers	O
for	O
the	O
file	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
eMule	B-Protocol
will	O
then	O
be	O
queued	O
until	O
an	O
upload	O
slot	O
becomes	O
available	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Newer	O
versions	O
of	O
eMule	B-Protocol
support	O
AICH	O
(	O
Advanced	O
Intelligent	O
Corruption	O
Handling	O
)	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
It	O
is	O
meant	O
to	O
make	O
eMule	B-Protocol
's	O
corruption	O
handling	O
competitive	O
with	O
BitTorrent	B-Protocol
.	O
</s>
<s>
SHA-1	B-Algorithm
hashes	I-Algorithm
are	O
computed	O
for	O
each	O
180	O
KiB	O
sub-chunk	O
and	O
a	O
whole	O
SHA-1	B-Algorithm
hash	I-Algorithm
tree	O
is	O
formed	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
eMule	B-Protocol
requires	O
10	O
agreeing	O
peers	O
regarding	O
the	O
SHA-1	B-Algorithm
hash	I-Algorithm
,	O
so	O
rare	O
files	O
generally	O
do	O
not	O
benefit	O
from	O
AICH	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Users	O
who	O
cannot	O
be	O
reached	O
from	O
the	O
outside	O
because	O
they	O
are	O
firewalled	B-Protocol
,	O
behind	O
a	O
NAT	B-Protocol
device	I-Protocol
that	O
has	O
not	O
been	O
correctly	O
port	O
forwarded	O
,	O
or	O
whose	O
IP	B-Protocol
address	I-Protocol
ends	O
with	O
a	O
zero	O
(	O
e.g.	O
</s>
<s>
Since	O
they	O
cannot	O
be	O
notified	O
that	O
they	O
are	O
in	O
front	O
of	O
an	O
upload	O
queue	O
,	O
they	O
have	O
to	O
poll	B-Operating_System
peers	O
if	O
an	O
upload	O
slot	O
is	O
available	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Their	O
IP/ports	O
are	O
not	O
exchanged	O
between	O
other	O
peers	O
,	O
limiting	O
their	O
possibilities	O
for	O
finding	O
sources	O
via	O
eMule	B-Protocol
's	O
pure-P2P	O
source	O
exchange	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
strict	O
queue	O
system	O
in	O
eMule	B-Protocol
is	O
based	O
on	O
the	O
waiting	O
time	O
a	O
user	O
has	O
spent	O
in	O
the	O
queue	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
unique	O
user	O
hash	B-Algorithm
is	O
used	O
to	O
identify	O
the	O
client	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
eMule	B-Protocol
is	O
said	O
to	O
be	O
the	O
most	O
complete	O
implementation	O
of	O
the	O
eD2k	O
protocol	O
and	O
its	O
extensions	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
eMule	B-Protocol
supports	O
AICH	O
,	O
making	O
its	O
corruption	O
handling	O
competitive	O
with	O
BitTorrent	B-Protocol
.	O
</s>
<s>
eMule	B-Protocol
also	O
supports	O
source	O
exchanges	O
,	O
allowing	O
it	O
to	O
substantially	O
reduce	O
the	O
loads	O
on	O
the	O
servers	O
and	O
Kad	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
With	O
a	O
High	O
ID	O
and	O
well-sourced	O
downloads	O
pre-acquired	O
by	O
server	O
and/or	O
Kad	O
,	O
eMule	B-Protocol
is	O
able	O
to	O
sustain	O
the	O
peer	O
sources	O
on	O
these	O
files	O
independent	O
longer	O
after	O
disconnection	O
from	O
eD2k	O
and	O
Kad	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
As	O
a	O
popular	O
open	O
source	O
program	O
,	O
eMule	B-Protocol
has	O
many	O
variants	O
,	O
usually	O
called	O
mods	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Some	O
mods	O
started	O
as	O
forks	O
from	O
official	O
eMule	B-Protocol
versions	O
and	O
then	O
continued	O
to	O
develop	O
independently	O
rather	O
than	O
modifying	O
newer	O
official	O
versions	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
An	O
example	O
of	O
this	O
type	O
of	O
mod	O
is	O
the	O
obsolete	O
eMule	B-Protocol
Plus	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Since	O
eMule	B-Protocol
Plus	O
forked	O
off	O
before	O
the	O
release	O
of	O
v0.30	O
,	O
the	O
first	O
official	O
version	O
to	O
include	O
Kad	O
,	O
eMule	B-Protocol
Plus	O
does	O
not	O
support	O
this	O
feature	O
mainly	O
because	O
the	O
project	O
development	O
has	O
been	O
abandoned	O
for	O
about	O
4	O
years	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Other	O
current	O
mods	O
follow	O
official	O
eMule	B-Protocol
releases	O
and	O
make	O
their	O
own	O
releases	O
based	O
on	O
each	O
new	O
release	O
of	O
the	O
official	O
version	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Since	O
distributed	O
mods	O
are	O
required	O
to	O
publicly	O
share	O
their	O
source	O
code	O
by	O
the	O
GNU	B-License
General	I-License
Public	I-License
License	I-License
,	O
useful	O
features	O
created	O
by	O
mod	O
developers	O
can	O
be	O
quickly	O
incorporated	O
into	O
an	O
official	O
version	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Due	O
to	O
the	O
popularity	O
and	O
open-source	B-Application
nature	O
of	O
eMule	B-Protocol
,	O
some	O
third	O
parties	O
have	O
created	O
modified	O
versions	O
of	O
it	O
,	O
which	O
frequently	O
contain	O
spyware	O
and	O
other	O
malware	O
programs	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
official	O
eMule	B-Protocol
is	O
free	B-Application
and	O
does	O
not	O
ask	O
for	O
such	O
information	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
VeryCD	O
's	O
easyMule	O
is	O
a	O
popular	O
eMule	B-Protocol
client	O
among	O
Chinese	O
users	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
It	O
has	O
a	O
simplified	O
interface	O
and	O
lacks	O
some	O
advanced	O
settings	O
available	O
in	O
the	O
standard	O
eMule	B-Protocol
client	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Some	O
criticized	O
VeryCD	O
for	O
their	O
misleading	O
name	O
"	O
Dianlv	O
"	O
(	O
;	O
generally	O
the	O
Chinese	O
name	O
for	O
eDonkey	O
or	O
eMule	B-Protocol
)	O
and	O
the	O
site	O
emule.org.cn,	O
which	O
is	O
named	O
"	O
Dianlv	O
(	O
eMule	B-Protocol
)	O
Chinese	O
Site	O
"	O
(电驴(eMule )	O
中文网站	O
)	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
On	O
July	O
29	O
,	O
2017	O
was	O
released	O
a	O
"	O
Community	O
Version	O
"	O
of	O
eMule	B-Protocol
maintained	O
by	O
the	O
official	O
forum	O
users	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
This	O
version	O
is	O
available	O
to	O
download	O
in	O
a	O
GitHub	B-Application
repository	O
and	O
is	O
based	O
on	O
the	O
latest	O
official	O
release	O
or	O
beta	O
but	O
contains	O
additional	O
features	O
and	O
bug	O
fixes	O
made	O
by	O
the	O
community	O
,	O
prioritizing	O
a	O
more	O
up-to-date	O
version	O
.	O
</s>
