Originally posted by Frybags:

I do not "own" the server software. It is bundled with the Steam version. I do not "own" the steam version. Does this not make sense?

I believe you can install and run the dedicated server without having to purchase the retail game. I know when I installed it on my Linux server via the command line (steamcmd), part of the process was logging in to Steam as anonymous (common practice for dedicated server setup). That would indicate the dedicated server is free.