摘要：Malware and criminal operations performed by botnets on the Internet not only pose a new threat, but also point to our increasing reliance upon a new form of machinic agency, which I call the webbot assemblage. Whereas news media coverage of its operations considers only their human aspects, mostly in relation to crime and cyberterrorism, Daniel Suarez's recent novel Daemon provides a suggestive glimpse into how, in a webbot assemblage, new forms of human and machinic agency are complexly intricated. The significance of this assemblage becomes further evident when it is considered in relation to how the Internet is increasingly perceived: no longer as a neutral medium but as an ecosystem defined by netwar, software arms races, and the possible evolution of low forms of artificial life.
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