The US House voted 238-187 in favor of limiting the FBI's ability to search through book store records and library records for potential "markers of terrorism". (Link)
Advocates of the Patriot Act say that this does not have a chilling effect, but I can say that for me personally, I think long and hard about whether or not I should buy books, and whether I should buy those books online with my debit card or go to a book store and buy with cash.
As an autodidact, I like to read to learn new things. One thing I've been interested in reading is the Koran. I hear so much about Islam these days that I'd like to read the Koran and be able to speak intelligently about the issue, and debunk those who are speaking crap. (For the record, I think that both those who say that Islam is a religion of peace and those who classify it as purely a war-like religion are both full of crap. If you read the Bible, you could draw the conclusion that God is both a legalistic God, focusing only on you following his rules, and a loving God that cares for all of his people)
But I don't buy the Koran, or several other books because I don't want to draw the attention of the FBI or whomever would mistake me with a terrorist based solely on what I read.
I can only imagine that if it has a chilling effect on me, it must have one on other people as well.
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