code: public static Properties load(URL url) throws IOException {
          InputStream fis = null;
          try {
              Properties props = new Properties();
              fis = url.openStream();
              props.load(fis);
              return props;
          } finally {
              IOUtils.closeQuietly(fis);
          }
      }
docs: Utility method to load a properties file pointed by the given url.
  
  @param url the url
  @return the read properties, empty if the file cannot be found.
  @throws IOException if the file cannot be loaded.