Is 8BIT ESTMP really needed

I have an impression that it has become de-facto standard in
e-mail today, that you send 8BIT characters without negotiating
an 8BIT connection according to RFC 1652?

Is this right?
--
Jacob Palme <jpalme(_at_)dsv(_dot_)su(_dot_)se> (Stockholm University and KTH)
for more info see URL: http://www.dsv.su.se/jpalme/