There were a lot of awesome academic resources (pirated scholastic journals, etc) floating around. They're mostly still there, but just as many have disappeared or gone mainstream.
@Leshma: I'm not discounting your belief, and I certainly don't support any pop culture view of the subject, but I do question the conclusion that all serious hacker groups are government funded. Surely, some may be corporate funded, criminal, security enthusiasts/academics (that are usually approached by governments at some point, sure), or decentralized vandal cells?