Is it possible for a sentient being to evolve within the Internet?

Could all the bits of junk data and programs and whatnot that are floating around on the Internet coalesce into a form of sentience? What would it be like? What could it do? I recently read a short science fiction story about this where a life form evolved out of a new traffic control program. I'm also a HUGE fan of Serial Experiments Lain and have watched it about a million times. Is such a thing possible???