EA_Barry,
Please read the problem in it's entirety.
It is known that when installed from steam that punkbuster does not work properly, and although there seems to be a fix through punkbuster, the download of the update (vc002351.htm) is unable to update and download.
What the problem likely stems from is that the punkbuster service included with your battlefield software does not include the updated file. I have found this while looking at the files included in the battlefield folder, and the updated file, vc002351.htm is NOT included in the list.
I tried downloading the file manually but to no avail. It seems that unless punkbuster download servers come online again, the only fix is from EA's side, and that would be to include the correct and updated punkbuster files with the game that they are now selling on steam.
For reference, punkbuster had no problems and runs fine from the installation folder that you are referencing, and did from the beginning in my case. It is just running an old version.
I hope for your company's sake that this is fixed quickly, otherwise there are going to be many steam users issuing refunds.
This is all coming from a person that bought the game again on steam due to the broken nature of the Origin platform.
Best,
Serial