Patent ID: 7620711

Claim:
A method of sharing configuration files having configuration data essential for configuring technical devices among users of the technical devices, the method comprising: receiving configuration data onto a server uploaded via a network by at least one user, wherein said configuration data comprises a plurality of parameter values for configuring a technical device and wherein said configuration data is associated with the user who uploaded the configuration data, and wherein said configuration data is further associated with an information element about the configuration data; storing the configuration data on a database of the server only after verifying that the configuration data is not already present in the database by checking for duplication comprising comparing the individual parameter values of the configuration data with predefined limit values and rejecting configuration data determined to be a duplication, and wherein the configuration data is organized in a region-specific manner to allow for downloading in a region-specific manner upon specifying a region; providing to an end user access to the information element about the configuration data and access to the configuration data for download by the end user in a region-specific manner; receiving a selection by the end user of the configuration data to download; upon downloading of the configuration data by the end user, updating a counter associated with the configuration file to monitor downloads in order to calculate an associated reimbursement to the user who uploaded the configuration data wherein the associated reimbursement is based on the number of downloads of the configuration data and payment by the end user.