What exactly do you mean by “wasn’t assigned”? According to this article [1], 1/8 was reserved in 1981. Only from 2008 to 2010 was 1.1.1.0/24 ever truly unallocated.
If, after 8 years, most providers still haven’t moved to either private networks or officially assigned networks, honestly – they suck.
[1]: https://labs.ripe.net/Members/franz/content-pollution-18